Today’s era is defined by technology. Technology is the nucleus of all our day-to-day activities. To scale up any industry or service, it is important to be technologically updated. Whether in a giant production unit or in a humble charitable trust technology has the power to soar production output and transform lives of needy, respectively. The spectrum of technology is enormous and hence if used constructively, it will always reap benefit.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is well aware of the enormity of technological influence and thus employs it to increase productivity and reach. Akshaya Patra employs technology in its operations, kitchen process and various management processes. It is the pioneer in using technology in Mid-Day Meal sector. The Centralized kitchens of Akshaya Patra are a testimony to this. All the Centralized kitchens are semi-mechanized with partial human interference. The mechanization of cooking process has helped in minimizing cooking time and also helped in meeting highest standards of hygiene.

For better process efficiency, concepts such as Kaizen, 5S and Six Sigma Methodologies are also adopted at Akshaya Patra kitchens. To better manage the fleet of meal delivery vehicles, implementation of Global Positioning Devices (GPS) has also been started in a phased manner. This will ensure punctuality and also act as a safety measure of the meal delivery vehicles. Akshaya Patra is also using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. With the introduction of ERP and the peripheral systems, the organization is now able to connect all locations on a single platform on a real-time basis. All the locations can now access the central ERP server for material and financial accounting.

Akshaya Patra is also utilizing the Internet technology in a constructive way to spread awareness about its cause. Through the various platforms of the web it is in its stride to have a global reach. Currently, Akshaya Patra is present in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ andPinterest.

The use of Internet technology has shown commendable results in terms of creating awareness and increased number of people getting involved with the cause.

Technology has certainly shown its impact in a positive way at Akshaya Patra. Increased efficiency, better reach and scalability have been attained by using different technologies for the overall functioning of the Foundation to attain the core objective of “No child in India shall be deprived of hunger because of hunger.”

We, at The Akshaya Patra Foundation strive towards providing mid-day meal to more than one million school children every day across India. A nutritious meal is prepared in our kitchens and is distributed in various Government schools. As a part of the employee engagement initiative, the Human Resource team of the Akshaya Patra arranged a school visit for the kitchen employees. This enterprise was taken up in order to weave a thread of connection between the kitchen staff and the school children.

The employees visited the Government Higher Primary School Uttarahalli in Bangalore. The children assembled for their morning prayer after the bell rang. They were all curious to know, as to who were the people standing in front of them. The Principal announced that they were none other than the Akshaya Patra employees. The announcement was met with excited cheers and claps. The children were elated to meet the staff. When the Principal asked, whether the students would like to visit the centralised kitchen, there was a loud “YES” – the roar of 1000 enthusiastic children.

There was an interactive session, during which the children were briefed about the nature of work of the kitchen employees. In their interaction the employees explained the importance of the mid-day meal to the children. As the employees and the children talked, there was applause, laughter, and a lot of smiles. The children also shared their thoughts on their favourite Akshaya Patra dish. The employees were glad to meet the children for whom they cook and they understood how their effort is making a huge difference in the lives of the children.