Food for thought: Kerala looks to bring ergonomic revolution to home kitchens

Thiruvananthapuram: From school textbooks, Kerala is taking the gender-neutral concept in kitchens to practical levels. The state coordination committee has given the nod to explore factors to be incorporated in ensuring ergonomic, gender-neutral kitchens in Kerala households.

As per the minutes of the latest coordination committee meeting, the state resource group (SRG) has submitted a report on introducing ergonomic kitchens with enhanced facilities irrespective of gender, especially in low-income and middle-income households. The coordination committee chaired by LSG Minister MB Rajesh has directed the engineering wing to survey factors required to upgrade kitchens. In the revised school textbooks, the government has introduced the concept of gender-neutral kitchens where men and women are shown working together.

“It could be the first time in the country such a kitchen-specific intervention will be done. Local self-government engineering wing has been directed to study the factors which need to be introduced in kitchens to ensure that it offers a healthy, conducive, easy environment to prepare food,” said Jiju P Alex, member, of Kerala state planning board.

Earlier in January 2024, local bodies had raised funds demand and approval for projects to improve kitchens. Considering this demand, the local self-government department initiated a proposal to make kitchens more conducive to health and to do cooking in a convenient and sanitised manner. The state resource group submitted a report based on requests from local bodies.

It was suggested that laying of tiles, installation of kitchen sink, slabs, racks, access to clean source of water and other facilities can be allowed. Fund allocation not exceeding Rs 75,000 can be permitted for this purpose, the SRG noted in the proposal. New houses being built under the Kerala government's LIFE housing scheme will not be included in the kitchen improvement scheme. The families excluded from the LIFE scheme will be eligible for financial assistance.

“We are in the process of identifying more factors which will make it a sustainable mission. The main objective is to avoid drudgery and to ensure a sanitised way of preparing food, especially in low-income households. The idea is to avoid physical exertion. The practice of preparing food by squatting for long hours and the use of traditional hearths causes many health problems. Ideal kitchen platforms will be developed,'' said Jiju P Alex.

The state government has allotted Rs 1,894.76 crore for various schemes under LIFE Mission in 2023-24, and to date, Rs 691.94 crore has been spent according to the figures presented in the assembly. As per the latest building statistics released by the Department of Economics and statistics for 2021-22, only 0.48 per cent (1,890) of the total new constructions opted for thatched roofing in the state. The highest number of buildings with thatched roofs is in Palakkad (869) followed by Ernakulam (243).