Citizens' campaign provides midday meal at just Rs 5

NAINITAL: Arun Kumar wipes clean his lunch plate and with a satisfied burp, utters a silent prayer for the group which has provided him his mid-day meal. At just Rs 5, the migrant from east Uttar Pradesh who plies a rickshaw in Haldwani has had a full meal of rice, vegetables, dal and salad, all prepared under the supervision of specialised chefs. Almost a thousand people like Kumar are being fed every day by ‘Thaal Seva,’ a citizen initiative that has been crowdfunded through social media. A group of 10 Haldwani residents have come together to start the initiative which provides a thali of wholesome food consisting of 400 grams of rice, vegetables, lentils and salad.The founders of the group include housewives, professionals and local traders who collaborated on WhatsApp and Facebook and also secured funds through these mediums. Initially, says a member of the group, they managed to collect Rs 5000 each from around 400 persons which was enough to sustain them for a year. But as word spread about their work, donations started pouring in from as far as Canada, Dubai and Mauritius. medium66334490The group now operates out of a fully-stocked kitchen (which became operational last week) that is manned by five cooks who prepare the meals. Dinesh Mansera, a Haldwani resident who is leading the initiative told TOI, “The idea started with the objective of providing affordable food to people who come to get their family members and relatives treated at the government hospital in Haldwani. Many of them cannot afford a four-square meal Subsequently, we expanded the scope of the project to include all people who could not afford a proper meal.”Rahul Varshney, a hotelier from the city whose chefs guide the team involved in cooking the meals, adds that “the response to the initiative has surpassed all expectations.” “People have just connected with the idea and want to be a part of it. We have been getting positive reactions and donations from all across the country as well as abroad.” medium66334777Haldwani’s Dr Susheela Tiwari Government Medical College & Hospital receives thousands of patients everyday, many of whom come from distant places in the hills to get treated. For them, the initiative has come as a boon. Paan Singh, who travelled from Bageshwar to get a family member treated in the hospital, told TOI, “This meal service is a big help for people like us who are burdened with taking care of the medical treatment of our relatives.”For those involved in the project, it is a means of giving back to society. Aatin Arora, a software engineer from Scotland who donated to the initiative after seeing their work on social media, said, “It feels highly satisfying to contribute to something that is helping people sleep with a full stomach.”Swati Kapoor, a homemaker who is one of the core group members who is tasked with managing accounts for the initiative says that the work has become “a new life purpose for me.” “It is something which is giving each of us who is involved immense satisfaction.”Besides cash, people have also donated in kind for the project. The premises from which the group operates — a 1500 square foot plot— has been donated for the initiative by Umang Vasudev, a businessman based in Haldwani. The group members say that “with so much support pouring in, they have been able to professionalise operations to a large extent.”The cooks as well as other workers have been provided uniforms along with gloves to maintain hygiene. A token system has been put in place to facilitate discipline. Distribution of tokens start at around 11am and lunch starts getting served at 11.30am which goes on till 3pm.Mahendra Verma, one of the cooks told TOI, “We look out if people are leaving food in their plates and ask them if the taste was not right or if something was amiss. We improvise accordingly with our spices and ingredients to avoid wastage of food and improvement of our food quality.”The group does not charge anything from handicapped or mentally destitute persons. Future plans include expanding the service by distributing food packets to homeless as well as mentally challenged persons who cannot come to the premises.