Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Jan 25, 2023: Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s new kitchen in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The state-of-the-art centralised kitchen, supported by Hindustan Electro Graphite Limited, is spread over an area of 1 acre. It is Akshaya Patra’s 66th kitchen in the country and the first in the state of Madhya Pradesh. It will enable the Foundation to impact the lives of over 50,000 children through the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-POSHAN) [formerly the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme].

The chief guest for the inauguration ceremony was Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in the presence of Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman – Akshaya Patra and Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice Chairman – Akshaya Patra.

The inauguration event was followed by a tour of the kitchen facility and a symbolic serving of meals to the children. The dignitaries present unequivocally commended Akshaya Patra’s efforts to address hunger and malnutrition in the country through the school feeding programme and pledged their support to the organisation’s endeavours. 

Expressing his gratitude, Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji for taking time off from his busy schedule to inaugurate our first centralised kitchen in Bhopal. We are immensely grateful to the Government of Madhya Pradesh for this opportunity to serve the children of Bhopal and would like to take this moment to reiterate our commitment to various developmental programmes and initiatives of the administration. I also want to thank Hindustan Electro Graphite Limited for sponsoring this kitchen and supporting our efforts to address classroom hunger.” He further added, “Such collaborative efforts by all the stakeholders will surely take us closer to our mission to ensure a world where children do not have to choose between education and food. Lastly, I would also like to take a moment to thank the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, for their continued support for our efforts to serve children and communities over the last 22 years.”

The new unit will follow world-class manufacturing practices and the highest standards of hygiene, food safety and quality to ensure that nutritious mid-day meals are cooked and delivered to children in the region. The kitchen is equipped with cauldrons, trolleys, roti and poori-making machines with the capacity to prepare 20,000 rotis and 10,000 puris per hour, 500-ltr sabji/vegetable cauldrons, 1200-ltr dal cauldrons and 125-kg rice cauldrons with a hydraulic system, an RO plant for water purification, ETP and LoT Gasbank as well as cutting boards, knives and other similar equipment. As a practice, all equipment is sanitised before usage.

The semi-automated kitchens can undertake large-scale feeding, typically up to 50,000 mid-day meals a day and they also adhere to Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) to ensure safe handling, preparation and delivery of the food. In adherence to the MDM Guidelines and as per the practice of serving food in accordance with the local palate, Akshaya Patra’s menu for Bhopal will include roti, poori and sabji, thepla, matar paneer, wheat cake, mixed veg soya masala, chole masala, rajma masala, jeera rice, plain rice, veg pulao, masala bhaji pulao, kheer and a fruit. These items will be served on a weekly-rotational basis. The kitchen will ensure strict adherence to recipes to consistently maintain taste and quality, thus improving the consumption of meals among children.