All these years, ATMs meant Automated Teller Machines installed by Banks for the benefit of customers to withdraw and deposit money without visiting the branches. Over a period of time, the Banks themselves started describing them as Any Time Money machines. There was a time in Tamil Nadu when the prosperity of a city/town/village was measured by the number of ATMs installed by the Banks in these places.
But the Kelagampatti village near Harur in Dharmapiri district, the ATM denotes Any Time Milk. A hi-tech milk dispenser in the village installed by an entrepreneur has taken the village by storm. The machine dispenses undiluted, unprocessed and unadulterated ‘desi’ milk round the clock on reasonable rates to the villagers who were hitherto depending on milk from private dairies.
Not any more. They are getting quality milk at rates ranging from Rs 10/-, Rs 20/-, Rs 50/- and Rs 100/- from these unmanned machines. All that the customers have to do is to insert the currency note of required denomination into the ATM. There is only one condition; the customers have to bring their vessels to collect the milk from the dispenser as no plastic packet us served from the machine.
The Any Time Milk dispenser is the brain child of Murugan, a history graduate-turned-farmer. The milk dispenser was bought from Haryana market at a proce of Rs 4 lakh. “As on date , there are 30 subscribers who have taken Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards from me and the demand is increasing impressively. Though there are milk dispensers operating in Tamil Nadu, what makes this one different is the absence of plastic bags. I insist customers come with vessels to collect the milk,” said Murugan. This ATM plays an important role in making the village free of plastic.
The demand for Murugan’s ATM is growing by the day. The machine dispenses 150 litres of milk daily and the demand is growing as Tamil Nadu is gearing up for the festival season. Many people have bought the debit card issued by him. There are households which have bought Rs 500/- worth debit card though cards of smaller denominations too are available. “This is a big relief for us because we were dependent on the retail stores selling milk packets which shut down quite early. But the ATMs are open 24X7 and we can get fresh and safe milk any time,” said Vijayashree Ramesh, who expressed her happiness over the state-of-the-art milk dispenser.
