Minister Raja inaugurates centralised hi-tech kitchen

Kakinada: Roads & Buildings Minister Dadisetti Ramalingeswar Rao (Raja) inaugurated the hi-tech centralised kitchen at Perumallapuram in Kakinada SEZ area on Thursday. Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation president Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa Swami ji was also present on the occasion.

centralised kitchen is the fourth one to be built by Aurobindo Pharma Foundation in collaboration with Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation (HKMCF). Currently, the kitchen has the capacity to produce 5,000 breakfast meals per day. The kitchen has a built-up area of 5,500 sq ft spread across two acres, donated by Kakinada SEZ Limited.

Earlier, Aurobindo Pharma Foundation in collaboration with HKMCF had constructed three centralised kitchens at Narsingi in Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar in Telangana and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, which are running successfully and have produced around 9.50 crore meals till date. This Kakinada project has an outlay of Rs 12 crore and will cover the construction cost of the kitchen, along with the required infrastructure/equipment and operational costs of the kitchen for a period of our years from now.

Minister Raja stated that the centralised kitchen is completely powered by solar equipment and has a capacity of preparing 5,000 breakfast meals per day, which mainly caters to the students of 41 government schools in the region. Currently, it will be implemented across 41 government schools spread across 36 villages of U Kothapalli and Thodangi mandals, he added.

The Minister said that the kitchen has sophisticated automated equipment such as Idli batter dispenser, dough kneader, sambar cauldron – double jacketed (1200 litres) with auto-dispensing set up, vessels sterilisation stands, etc., to maintain highest quality, hygiene, and speed while preparing food so as to retain nutritional values, from the time of preparation to the time of serving.

Along with the inauguration of this kitchen, 'Swasthya Ahara' – a free breakfast programme in government schools was also started. Swasthya Ahara is a free breakfast programme primarily concentrated on providing hot and nutritious breakfast to the underprivileged children of government schools. Providing access to nutritious food which will go beyond nutrition, Swasthya Ahara will aid in the enrichment of underprivileged children fostering optimal growth and development.

Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation president Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa Swami ji said, "It is the desire of our Spiritual Master Srila Prabhupada that nobody should go hungry within a 10-mile radius of our centre. With this objective Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation has taken up feeding programmes like Bhojana-Amritam, Swasthya Ahara etc. We thank Minister Dadisetti Raja and the AP government for their support and encouragement. We are also thankful to Aurobindo Pharma Foundation and its Directors, K Nithyananda Reddy and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, for their generous support. This hi-tech kitchen will serve many underprivileged in Kakinada district and thereby make our humble contribution to the development of Andhra Pradesh."

Aurobindo Pharma Foundation and Managing Director and Vice-Chairman K Nityananda Reddy stated that breakfast meals act as a stimulus for children to come to school and continue their education. "It has always been our endeavour to reach out and serve more children. The new kitchen will help us reach out to around 5,000 children in the region. These children will be assured of nutritious and hygienic millet-based breakfast meals, which will go a long way in keeping them healthy by providing nutritious breakfast meals prepared in hygienic conditions, to aid in improving the health status of the rural children."