Not very long ago I wrote about Akshaya Patra and how the food was on EB blog. Here is the paragraph from that post

My mother is a Govt school teacher. Last few years she doesn’t carry lunch to school. When ever I question her answer would be I like to have with my kids. They get food from Akshaya Patra we (teachers) make sure that we also eat the same food once the kids are done. I didnt care much until I got a mail from Akshaya Patra so that I can blog about them. That is when I went back to my mother to ask (Not a child you see!) howz the lunch at school? well the answer was clean, healthy and delivered on time everyday.

After that blog post. I was very keen on visiting Akshaya Patra’s Kitchen. They were very happy to oblige. But the condition was to be there at the kitchen before 7am as cooking gets over by 7:30am.

Early morning drive was good. Sandeep accompanied me to the kitchen. Since its a saturday and schools work only half a day; they were cooking breakfast and special sweet. It was my favorite bisi bele bath (typical bangalorean you see).

The Rajajinagar kitchen of Akshaya Patra looks like an hi-tech small scale Industry. stainless steel cauldrons, steam boilers, exhaust system, conveyor belts for cooking. High hygiene levels are maintained by wearing gloves and head caps by the workers. Later I got to know food is never touched until it reaches kids.

Bangalore Kitchen as I mentioned has series of mechanized steam-heated cauldrons for cooking rice and sambar. Once cooked, sambar flows through a channel to reach the packaging area.You should see to believe how everything works so perfectly. They have all processes to maximize the efficiency and minimize the time, cost³ and labor. They should go for CMM levels. They will get CMM Level 5 for their processes. BTW they are on the way of getting ISO2200

Thats Seemantini who showed us the kitchen and works for AP.

Thats the score card of Akshaya Patra as of today. They are on verge of reaching one million kids everyday. They need your support to go beyond a million. You can donate online using credit card or paypal. Donations are eligible for 100% tax deduction. If you want to donate by cheque contact them off-line.

Other points which you may want to consider before donating.

1. KPMG audits Akshaya Patra every year for funds utilization
2. They are secular
3. 4.5 rupees is the national average cost of a meal. Thats less than 2 Cigarettes’ right?
4. The cost of feeding a kid for one whole year is just 1200
5. A recent study conducted by A.C. Nielsen confirmed that the program has positive impact on enrollment and attendance

Yes. Me and Sandeep enjoyed the bisi bele bath and saturday special sweet pongal.