New Delhi: Akshaya Patra Foundation has opened a new centralised kitchen in Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area of New Delhi.
The kitchen sponsored by ABB India has the capacity to cater to the nutrition needs of students through 25,000 midday meals across various Government schools in the surrounding areas.
Initially, it will serve over 21,000 children of 24 Government schools in the national capital and gradually extend its reach. Mohan Cooperative kitchen will be The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s 51st kitchen in the country.
From January 1st 2020, Akshaya Patra will begin operations in Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Jahangir Puri and Samaypur Badli, feeding 64,179 children across 134 schools in the national capital through these three kitchens.
“Our partnership with Akshaya Patra aligns well with our key theme in social impact projects,” said Sanjeev Arora, President, Motion Business, ABB India.
“We are privileged to have the opportunity to support nutritious meals in surrounding 24 schools through this state-of-the-art kitchen. When this is fully functional, ABB will support the meals to 21,000 students in the region,” he added.
Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman – The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “We are immensely grateful to ABB India Foundation for sponsoring this kitchen and enabling us to reach more than 21,000 children in Delhi. This partnership will contribute to the sustainability integral to our endeavour and help us reach in our mission.”
The new kitchens set up in Delhi are powered by green fuel, including solar power for heating water, natural gas for powering infrared burners, etc. A hybrid solar water pump provides the water for cooking, with a capacity to heat 15,000 litres of water to 80°C through the year.
Bratt pans are used for cooking rice, dal, and vegetables. The Bratt pans have a capacity of 450 litres and can cook rice for 2000 meals in 30 minutes and vegetables for 5000 meals in 1 hour.
The dal cooker also has a capacity of 450 litres and can cook dal for over 2500 meals in under 2 hours. The kitchens are also equipped with a semi-automated puri machine which can fry about 6000 puris per hour.
The state-of-the-art kitchen in Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, New Delhi will follow the highest standards of hygiene, food safety, and quality to ensure that nutritious food is cooked and delivered to children.
Continuing with the practice of serving food in accordance to the local palate, the Foundation’s menu for Delhi will include aata poori, besan poori, aaloo curry, chole, rice, sambhar, dal, and kadi.
All the gravy items will have mashed vegetables added to them to enhance their nutritional value. Similarly, triple fortified salt and fortified oil will be used for cooking. With children’s acceptability in mind, a conscious effort made to make the meal flavoursome to add to improve food consumption.
While Mohan Cooperative kitchen will feed 21,133 children in Delhi, Jahangir Puri kitchen funded by Franklin Templeton Investments will feed 21,110 children and Samaypur Badli kitchen funded by SBI Capital and United Way of Delhi will feed 21,936 children.
