The recently launched Anna Canteens by the State Government has evoked good response among people and about 1300 people are visiting each of the canteens on an average to have breakfast, lunch or dinner.

But challenge before Hare Krishna Charitable Foundation that runs the Akshaya Patra midday meal scheme and to whom the cooking and supply has been outsourced, is to maintain the quality, taste, hygiene and timely supply.

Of the 25 such canteens proposed in the city, 15 have become operational, and the foundation has taken it up as a challenge to serve quality meal to the poor for a sum of ₹ 5, per meal.

The food is being cooked at our centralised kitchen in Autonagar, which is semi automated kitchen, and the kitchen is manned by a staff of 200 persons, said Niskinchana Bhaktadasa of Hare Krishna Charitable Foundation.

“But the challenge for such mass cooking on a daily basis is maintaining the quality and taste. So far the going has been good,” he said.

The kitchen also prepares mid-day meal food schoolchildren and now it has to prepare for another 7000 to 9000 people on an average for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The other challenge for the Akshaya Patra kitchen is timely delivery.

“We have engaged a few hired vans to ferry the food from the kitchen to canteens, which are spread across the city. For breakfast we have to reach the canteens by 7 a.m., as the serving starts at 7.30 a.m., and for lunch we have to be there by at least 12 noon and for dinner by 7 p.m. Time is the biggest challenge, as a slight delay may swell up the crowd and they may become impatient,” Dr. Niskinchana said.

Other challenge is maintaining the hygiene and cleanliness at the canteens. Each canteen has a staff of about seven people to handle the serving, cash counter and cleaning up the place and dishes.

“The idea is to serve quality and tasty food at hygienic and clean environment, and we cannot compromise on it. GVMC has been very supportive in cleaning up the drains, providing water and maintaining cleanliness in and around the canteens. They are also helping us in regulating the crowd, which is an important issue at the moment,” said Dr. Niskinchana.

Simple menu

The menu has been kept simple for breakfast there is idli every day with chutney and variety is spiced up with either upma, puri-sabji or pongal. For lunch and dinner it is rice, sambar, one curry, curd and pickle.

While the cost for each meal (including breakfast) is ₹ 5, which works out ₹15 for all the three, the actual cost is pegged around ₹ 73 for all the three.

AP Government will pay back the foundation ₹ 58 as subsidy, said an officer