Over 2K children enjoy nutritious food served by India's first integrated kitchen in Kadapa

The Hindu

2 days ago

India's first integrated smart kitchen is serving nutritious food to 2,200 children studying in 12 State-funded schools and bringing smiles on their faces, in Kadapa district.
The kitchen, established by the Kadapa district administration, resembles a five-star facility with a state-of-the-art kitchen, a warehouse to store groceries, cutlery to serve meals and also a mini solar power generation unit. The leftover food and vegetable peels are used to generate methane gas through biodegradation.
It was set up with ₹10 lakh provided by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan under the Dokka Seethamma mid-day meal scheme and district development fund. The activities of the integrated kitchen set up under the 'hub-and-spoke model' are constantly monitored through a mobile app.
District Collector Sridhar Cherukuri said: 'The kitchen is part of an initiative to improve attendance in schools and enhance the pass percentage by letting the children focus on their studies without any worry about their lunch.'
It may be mentioned here that Mr. Pawan Kalyan, who visited Kadapa Municipal Corporation High School in 2024 to attend the first parent teacher meeting, had noticed the difficulties faced by the staff in cooking food using firewood chulahs (traditional stoves).
While having lunch with the children, Mr. Pawan Kalyan had promised to launch a modern kitchen using his personal funds. The Collector immediately took the lead in establishing a modern kitchen with all the required facilities.
The menu includes white rice and vegetable curry on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Pulagam and tamarind rice on Tuesdays and vegetable rice on Thursdays. Eggs are served on all days and these apart, ragi porridge, jaggery Pongal, chikki, greens are also served on select days.
A class seventh student Kavya Sri expressed that she thoroughly enjoys the various options available on the menu. Similarly, Shaik Mohammad Mahir Basha, a class eighth student, said that he was thrilled to meet his favourite actor Pawan Kalyan last year and thanked him for providing a delightful meal to the students.
Ruth Arogya Mary, English teacher at a Municipal Corporation School, said that there has been a drastic fall in the number of students bringing food carriers from their homes, and credits the improved quality of food served at the school for this change.