Lucknow : In a step towards ensuring nutritious and affordable meals for the urban poor and needy, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to establish and operate community kitchens across the state. To discuss best practices and models already functional in other states, a state-level workshop was held on Wednesday at SUDA Bhawan under the chairmanship of SUDA Director Mrs. Apoorva Dubey.
The workshop focused on the urgent need for clean, hygienic, tasty, and nutritious meals for the urban poor. Mrs. Dubey emphasized that timely availability of food through the proposed community kitchen initiative will be central to the state’s welfare efforts.
Representatives from successful community kitchen models in other states presented their experiences:
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Chitta Ranjan Mahona, Nodal Officer of Odisha’s Aahar Yojana, shared insights on managing 169 Aahar centers delivering breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
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Durgesh Tiwari, Nodal Officer of Madhya Pradesh’s Deendayal Rasoi Yojana, explained the operation of 166 permanent kitchens and 25 mobile food vans offering subsidized meals.
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Suresh Gaur, representing Hare Krishna Mission in Andhra Pradesh, detailed the functioning of 15 integrated kitchens and 203 Anna Canteens across the state providing all three meals daily.
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Vikrant Mohan of Akshaya Patra Foundation, Lucknow, gave a presentation on centralized kitchens and the distribution of Mid-Day Meals in government schools.
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Brij Mohan Joshi from Gallant, Gorakhpur, described the initiative of providing food to five hospitals through two mobile vans and a centralized kitchen.
The workshop also saw participation from major stakeholders in the food service sector including Madhurima Restaurant, Amrit Food Lucknow, Pradeep Air Caterer, Bikanerwala Lucknow, Hotel Rajasthan, Snow Fountain Architects and Consultants, BOH Commercial Kitchen Specialists, and a team from IRCTC.
During the session, valuable suggestions were received from stakeholders and state representatives on the establishment and efficient operation of community kitchens in Uttar Pradesh.
Senior officials in attendance included Special Secretary Satya Prakash Patel, Municipal Commissioner Jhansi Satya Prakash, former Lucknow Municipal Commissioner Indrajit Singh, NEDA Director, Deputy Food Commissioner V.P. Singh, SUDA Finance Controller Sanjeev Gupta, Program Officer Atul Singh Chauhan, and DUDA Lucknow Project Officer Chandrakant Tripathi.
The state aims to adopt an integrated model by learning from the experiences of other regions to ensure food security and dignity for every urban poor resident.
