Jignesh Gandhi, a Surat-based entrepreneur, has taken the onus of distributing 24,000 meals a day. Jignesh Gandhi has so far spent Rs 36 lakh on the initiative. Rest of the funds have come through his own non-profit called Alliance Club of Surat “Hope”.
Jignesh Gandhi, a Surat-based entrepreneur, has been starting his days at 6 am every day, ever since a nationwide lockdown was announced on 24 March.
In the last 46 days, Gandhi has been providing two meals for 12,000 people daily in some of Surat’s most impoverished neighbourhoods.
A social worker and owner of a textile machinery trading business, Gandhi’s day starts with a visit to the local mandi where he buys over 150 kg of vegetables before visiting the godowns to purchase around 500 kg of dal and rice. He delivers these items to each of the six spots where food is prepared and also decides the menu every day.
“I know the feeling of sleeping on an empty stomach. I can’t bear to see people suffer because of hunger,” 45-year-old Gandhi told
The businessman first distributed 1,000 meals a day, but soon expanded his initiative when he realised that there were more people going hungry every night.
Gandhi said it costs about Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000 to buy supplies for 12,000 meals twice a day. The costs have been kept low with the cooking and distribution done by local volunteers. Women, who send chapatis to the kitchens, are given 1 kg of flour every day.
SOURCE : theprint.in
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