An organization that undertakes a mid-day meal initiative is flanked with many imperatives. There is, first of all, the huge challenge of providing lunch to thousands of school-children in the remotest corners. Both time and food quality are of utmost essence in such an endeavor. There is absolutely no room for negligence on hygiene, punctuality and taste. Plus, the baggage of some incidents of questionable food quality in some mid-day meal projects elsewhere has added a new weight of constant scrutiny and responsibility on the sanitary standards of any lunch delivery.

When we reckon some other imperatives as listed below, we know for sure that any mid-day meal programme is nothing short of an everyday battle. The organization and team here have to ensure:

• Proper resource management and accountability
• Geographical coverage without delays or inconsistencies
• Zero food wastage while meeting demand fluctuations at various schools
• Keeping up the appeal of food through menu diversity and region-specific taste alignment
• Non-tolerance of fraud, corruption and mala-fide elements
• Documentation and inventory planning with a razor-sharp rigou
• Ability to adapt to different food and time demands as per occasions
• Readiness for exigencies and weather-related pressures
• Understanding of hard-to-explain absenteeism on certain days of the week
• Morale building for people involved at various stages of this food chain

The Staqo Alchemy

Enters Presence 360. Because each of the imperative mentioned above, somehow, boils down to ‘data’. With the right data in hand, one can gather patterns in attendance, can spot taste preferences and can wipe away any possibility of inefficiency or delay in the entire process.

With data collected, processed, digested, and served as insights for various people in the team – it becomes easy to mix in punctuality, precision, meticulousness and intuitive understanding in mid-day meals.

This is achieved through:

• Sharp tracking and monitoring of attendance
• Real-time analysis and correlation of attendance with a specific type of menu
• Quick, and actionable, feedback on meal quality and menu choices
• Easy visualization of key insights for fast problem rectification
• Simple and relevant integration of accounts, supply chain and kitchen departments
• Capabilities that can help to spot absenteeism patterns –like children used for child labour by some parents on certain days
• Surveillance of not just absent students but also the strength of gauging their reasons and taking constructive action
• Cohesive and deep management of resources, time and people

Outcomes and The Road Ahead:

Presence 360 is packed with a lot of features like Artificial Intelligence, automated tracking, Facial Recognition and paperless attendance management. But the core idea, and the quintessential purpose of this platform, is to solve people-issues. This is done by proactively observing their needs, gaps and problems. This solution has helped many government bodies and non-profit organisations in accomplishing their goals with the support of reliable, swift and simple technology.

By using Presence 360, the mid-day meal program accomplished consistency, discipline, student-orientation and appeal for a diverse range of students, schools and geographies. The organisation was able to plan better menus, streamline logistics, simplify operations and bring a fulfilling smile on the faces of students it reached.

By removing absence, by bringing clarity – this solution could help the organisation to nail ‘attendance’ in the truest and highest sense possible. And that is the eventual goal of every mid-day meal initiative.

To bring students to school and make them stay there. With Presence360, they came, they stayed, and they ate – happily ever after!