TIRUCHY: Like many youngsters into white-collared jobs, M Divagar felt the need to maintain a relationship with his roots. Guided by the urge, the 34-year-old struck a balance between the two worlds – his father’s dairy farm and technology — to create something new. This resulted in him opening the city’s first automated milk dispensing kiosk.

Divagar thought about using technology to ensure that farm-fresh milk was available to everyone, even those living in the city. But, finding the best vending machine was difficult for the young entrepreneur. “I went to Delhi to see the Milk ATMs used there. People using the Milk ATMs gave me the details of some of the manufactures of the Milk ATM machines in Haryana. So, I went to Haryana to purchase the machine. I am using it my shop in Geetha Nagar near Vayalur Road in Tiruchy,” he said. He spent Rs 4 lakhs on this machine. At present, the Milk ATM is refilled in the morning and evening.

“The milk is stored at a cooling range of 4 to 6 degree Celsius. It can store 300 litres for two days. But, we want to provide fresh farm milk to the customers. So we refill the machine every morning and evening. We also clean this machine before each refill,” said Divagar. The shop operates from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm and is getting a good response.

“We give a card to the customers. It can be recharged in our shop for using this ATM machine. The machine also accepts notes and coins. Within a week, we got 30 customers. We are also planning to set up a similar ATM in Thillai Nagar. We have not planned to extend our service for now because our farm is in this district,” he said.

Several residents appreciated this initiative. “Most of us used to buy packaged milk. Now, I use the milk ATM,”  Kavitha, a resident.