Groups provide food to hungry in Kerala lockdown
TRIVANDRUM: Several groups in Kerala have come out to feed the needy as the people went out of jobs under a strict lockdown that came into force last week to contain the COVID-19 spread.
They distribute food packets to people in distress who were mostly working in the unorganised sectors let with no means to sustain themselves ater the lockdown deprived them of their livelihood.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who announced the lockdown last week, had also promised to open community kitchens across the state.
He also held a video-conferencing with the local self-governments who were to take the initiative and fund the project. But that has not materialised so far in most places.
“Community kitchens should be set up in all local bodies, where that facility does not exist now,” he reportedly told them.
“There should not be a single person in Kerala who is not geting treatment and food. All local bodies should prepare a list of those who are likely to face hunger.”
One of them, the Trivandrum Press Club with some 600 members, opened a community kitchen where journalists volunteer to cook and pack food.
They take these mid-day meal packets to one of the busy points in the city where many people wait for them. They also serve food on the Press Club premises.
“Initially, we thought of opening an outlet for members who are on the ground reporting the batle against the pandemic,” its president Sonichan P Joseph said.
“Then we realised there are more people going hungry out there. Soon, one of the prominent NGOS in the city, Sai Gramam, came to help us in whatever way they can.”
Press Club officials say they want to continue the initiative till the end of the month. The lockdown is to end on May 16 but it may be extended with no sign of an end to the virus surge.
“We distributed around 2,500 food packets over the last two days but that’s too litle as demand is growing,” its secretary M Radhakrishnan told Gulf Today.
“Many people have been let jobless and the eateries that remain open are not affordable for them. We need to increase the number but we don’t have space for that.”
The city-based Saigramam Trust is at the forefront of relief activities since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.