State's first hi-tech, centralised kitchen for Nashik tribal schools a roaring success

As the clock rings 10.30am, all students at the newly constructed government-run Ashram Shala (tribal residential school) at Mundhegaon of Igatpuri taluka in Nashik leave their classrooms and rush towards the twin dining halls, flanked outside the huge kitchen, holding their plates.

It is lunch time and the chattering students are curious about today's menu. Some students in gloves and head gear, along with the teaching and kitchen staff, take position to serve the food. In less than 15 minutes, all 500 kids are served in a well-synchronised and disciplined manner. After a minute of prayer, children dig in.

For the students from the humble farmer families of Niphad and Kalwan talukas of Nashik, four meals a day are no less than a treat. Ditto for 3,000 other kids studying in 12 schools spread across the district, who get food from this kitchen. The cooks even take care of the tribals' taste. "We had mutton on Sunday," smile Ashwini Bhole and Rukshada Tungar, Class VII students, speaking in fluent English.

The high-tech kitchen, linked with a complete operational and logistic management system, was set-up in September last year. It is the first such attempt in the state to bring a big change in the lives of tribal kids. The school is among a few dozen tribal schools that offer English-medium education, with an aim to bring the tribes into the mainstream.

After the success of the pilot project, the department set-up another central kitchen at Kumbhalgaon in Palghar district as well. The tripartite agreement among the Maharashtra government, Akshay Patra and Tata Trust rolled out these two centralised kitchens, with a total expenditure of Rs10 crore. Cooks and helpers were given 10-day training in Bangalore. The two NGOs will assist and monitor the twin projects for the first six months before handing them over to the government in March.

Meanwhile, the Monday lunch was moong daal, chapati, rice, cauliflower, potato and beans vegetable. It has been four months since the monotonous Khichdi was served. "This vegetable is good na? I will take more," says Class VII student Gaurav Gangurde to Nikhil Bohe, the boy sitting next to him. Nikhil sought his fifth chapati, silently approving the food.

Breakfast generally comprises poha, upma or idli. "We need 130kg rava, 30kg tomato, 3kg chana daal and 3kg udad daal to make upma for 3,500 kids," says cook Sushil Garud (45), whose team starts working at 2am every day, so that the vehicles start ferrying breakfast at 4am and reach before the children reach the far-most school, 75km away. They work in three shifts to manage the kitchen.

Lunch consists of rotis, rice, dal, pulao and seasonal vegetables. Evening snacks include lassi or flavoured milk with a fruit. Rotis, rice, vegetables and dal are served for dinner. Mutton and chicken is served two times in a month. All in all, the government spends Rs1,997 on one child per month.

Principal of the school, Kishore Pagare, has tied-up with a group of local farmers for quality vegetables. He also supervises the procurement and storage of grains, spices and other things and delivery of sealed food to all schools on time. Compared to the earlier system, wherein 12 residential schools prepared their own food, the central kitchen helps the department save money as well.

Now the government is looking forward to set-up such kitchens across the state. There are 529 ashram shalas catering to over 1.9 lakh students. Barring a few elevated to CBSE-based Eklavya schools, they are known for their trademark dilapidated buildings, skewed resources, skinny kids, stinky or no toilets and poor quality food – all leading to a higher dropout rate and poor learning outcome.

Rajagopal Devara, tribal secretary of Maharashtra, said, "More corporates are being roped in, so that we can have such kitchens in other districts as well. The healthy full meals would not only improve the nutritional well-being of the tribal kids, but would also lead to their overall development."

The kitchen
Consists of a cold-storage room, huge automated washing machine for daal and rice, boilers to cook 180kg rice at a time, steam sterilisation of utensils, rava roaster, separate kitchen with freezer and oven for non-vegetarian cooking. Chapatis are currently being outsourced from self-help groups. An automatic roti-maker is on the cards.

Food-path
Nearest school being served: 3km
Farthest school being served: 75km
Per day diesel consumption: 102litre
Per day water consumption: 60,000litre
Rs1.6 crore water pipeline coming directly from Mukne dam, 6km away
Cooks and helpers: 64

Matter of concern
The wall paint of the modern kitchen is falling apart, raising concerns about food safety. Most kids don't have footwear, as the government is yet to make provisions. The school is only up to Class VII and most students, especially the girls, stare at a bleak future with chances of not even completing Class VIII, as mandated under the Right to Education Act.