Supercaller keeps up with midday meals — daily

The teacher responds simply by punching the number of students on his phone. The data is automatically fed to the server of KCPL set up in Delhi which is connected with the website of Mid Day Meal Authority of UP.

Officials who have access to the system can check the data anytime.

“If any teacher misses our call,he can give us a missed call on our number and the software calls him back immediately. The teachers do not have to bear the cost of call,” said Pallav Pandey,Chief Operating Officer of KCPL.

About a year ago,the UPMDM had approached KCPL through the UP Development Systems Corporation Limited (UPDESCO). After the tie-up,KCPL trained the teachers at block level. For the last one month,KCPL has been calling them and collecting data.

Deputy Director of Mid Day Meal Authority Suraj Narain Mishra said they were facing the problem of gram pradhans tampering with reports of the number of enrolled students and the mid-day meals being cooked. Reports from districts came after a month and were often incomplete.

“Now when data is collected every day and directly from teachers,the irregularities can be checked,” he said.

Mishra said since they were still collecting contact number of teachers from some districts,it will take two more months to cover the entire state.

The IT firm is using the system in Delhi and Jharkhand too.

In Delhi,when a motorist crosses the red signal,the traffic police personnel SMS the vehicle number to a contact number allocated by KCPL. “We do the mapping of vehicle number with list of vehicle owners. After identifying him,we make a IVR call,warning him that he had crossed the red signal today and that he should not repeat it again. We make almost 700 such calls every day,” Pandey said.

In July,the firm also made 30,000 calls to tax payers in Delhi asking them to file their returns on time.

In Jharkhand,the firm is sending SMS on behalf of police,assuring residents of Naxal-affected areas of protection.