It is 1.30 on a rainy afternoon in Visakhapatnam. The Akshaya Patra kitchen of Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation, which provides food to all the Anna Canteens in the city, is buzzing with activities. At first glance, the kitchen looks like a storehouse with few trucks parked in its driveway. The size of the kitchen leaves one in awe. Even as the rain pours outside bringing down the temperature, the steam from the two large cauldrons of rice keeps the kitchen warm.The air is redolent with the aroma of sambar. With large cauldrons that function on steam, the state-of-the-art facility is designed to prepare food for over 50,000 people per day.
Spread over 1.5 acres in Kancharapalem, the kitchen prepares food for 22 canteens across the city. After Tamil Nadu’s pioneering Amma Canteen model that was followed by several other States, Andhra Pradesh finally got its version of low-cost eateries called Anna Canteen. Within a month since its launch on July 11, the kitchen has already been catering to over 9,000 people on a daily basis, and the number is rapidly increasing. The employees expect the number of beneficiaries to touch 12,000 once all the proposed 25 canteens start functioning.
The lunch and dinner menus for the Anna canteens are set. Every person is served 400 grams of rice, 100 grams of curry, 150 grams of sambar and 75 grams of curd along with pickle. All of this is served at ₹5 per meal. However, serving these many people every day is no mean feat. It takes the effort of 160 staff members working in three shifts to dish out hot wholesome meals to the consumers. “There is not a moment of silence here. With the kitchen functioning for 21 hours a day, the cooking process never actually stops. The preparations for the breakfast supplied to Anna Canteens begins at 10 pm the previous night,” says Mahesh Patnaik, operation manager at the kitchen.
Behind the scenes
The kitchen largely functions in one big room which has the equipment to cook rice, sambar, idli and curry. On the extreme end of the room, on a raised platform are six cauldrons that function on steam and are used to cook rice. Each cauldron has the capacity to cook 100 kilograms of rice at a time. The piping hot rice is then transferred into a steel-wagon, which is emptied into a rice chute. From there they are packed into cylindrical utensils and ferried to the vans to be transported to the canteens. Armed with gumboots, hair net caps and gloves, these employees ensure that every meal made is hygienic. Sambar and curries are cooked in separate steel cauldrons with a capacity of 1,250 litres each. The whole process of cooking an entire meal requires at least five hours.
“The kitchen is 70% mechanised. We have put in an effort to minimise human touch. Human aid is required only to load and unload ingredients in the utensils and then ferry the food to the delivery vans. In coming time as the number of people at the canteens will increase we are looking at making the kitchen 100% mechanised,” Mahesh says.
Race against time
Getting food cooked for these many people is a race against time as the foundation also has to adhere to strict deadlines. The breakfast menu which usually comprises idli, sambar and chutney along with upma, puri-bhaji or pongal has to reachthe canteens by 7.30 am. “The breakfast leaves the kitchen by 5 am, lunch and dinner are sent by 12 noon and 6 pm respectively. The food is transported in specially designed and customised vehicles which deliver the food across the city. If the deadlines are missed we have to pay fine,” Mahesh adds.
However, meeting deadlines is not the only challenge. Three quality inspectors who are constantly around the kitchen ensure that good quality food that is hygienic and nutritious is sent to the canteens. “These inspectors also keep food samples for 24 hours to carry out tests in case of any complaints,” Mahesh adds. The efforts that the employees put in are reflected by the long queues in front of the canteens. People start queueing up an hour before the canteen starts giving the token.
For Krishna Bellad, a 26-year-old civil servant aspirant, getting a hot breakfast at a reasonable price is a blessing. A regular to the canteen, Krishna heads to his classes at 8.30 am after a quick bite at the canteen. “ Initially, I was reluctant to have the canteen food as I was sceptical about the quality and thought it would not be hygienic. But after getting good feedback from my friends, I decided to try the food and I am impressed by the quality. There is no compromise on taste either,” he says as he enjoys a plateful of idli, sambar and chutney. Sharing the table with him is a 42-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, Rounak Mishra. A healthy meal at ₹5 is what draws Rounak to the canteen. “I am from Bihar. Idli or upma is not what we usually have at home, but the low price and the tasty food brings me to here. My lunch and dinner are at the canteen. Eating here saves me almost ₹4000 per month,” says Rounak who moved to the city two years ago.
Apart from Anna canteens, the kitchen’s industrial catering service provides food to companies and it also serves mid-day meals to 92 government schools in the surrounding areas.