During the harrowing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government took a tough stance by ordering a nationwide lockdown. Amid all this, the iTV Foundation and the Akshaya Patra Foundation stepped in to provide relief by delivering meals to people across the country.
Thousands of people, including the daily wage workers, migrant labourers, building site workers, and poor people at old-age homes and night shelters, have benefited from the relief programme run by the iTV Foundation and the Akshaya Patra Foundation. The programme includes ensuring meals and providing packed grocery kits to the needy, whilst all the Covid-19 protocols are followed.
“Amid the pandemic, many children in our country have lost their parents. And multitudes of people have lost their livelihoods as a result of the economic downturn. Hence, this food bank service with us and the Akshaya Patra Foundation is an opportunity for us to aid the rest of our country’s residents. Many impoverished people will benefit from this service since it will provide them with nutritious food, which they desperately require at this time,” said Aishwarya Sharma, founder of the iTV Foundation.
“We came here today to deliver nearly 600 meal-packs to children. It brings me great joy to see children’s faces light up, and it gives me immense satisfaction that we have the opportunity to help them amid such trying times. We’ve been doing this all around Delhi; we have about 25 centres from which we distribute close to 500 lunch and dinner meals,” Sri Arjun Nath Dasa, Head, Communications (Delhi NCR), Akshaya Patra remarked while distributing the meals.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation operates 55 kitchens across 13 States and a Union Territory of India. Centralised kitchens are large kitchen units that can cook up to 100,000 meals. These kitchens are automated and thus ensure utmost hygiene during the cooking processes. On the other hand, in locations where factors such as difficult geographical terrain and improper road connectivity do not support the construction of large infrastructure, the decentralised kitchen format is followed.
To distribute meals and one month’s worth of rations to the needy, the two Foundations travelled to remote regions in the national capital, including Indra Vihar Camp in Punjabi Bagh, and Pashchim Vihar. These kits are called “Happiness Kits” because they bring smiles to the faces of those who are in need during the lockdown.