Hyderabad: South Central Railway has been able to distribute free food to over 03 Lakhs needy people facing hard times due to the COVID – 19. The zone had taken up this task as per the directions of Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways who called upon all the Railway Zones to reach out to needy sections of the society with Food and other assistance in the present challenging times owing to COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative saw coming together of all the Railway personnel across the Zone to contribute their bit in helping out the needy.
While the Railway Protection Force joined the initiative by making contribution towards both the distribution of food as well as in ensuring that the task is done duly following adequate social distancing norms, Personnel from all departments ( ranging from Commercial, Engineering, Stores, Signal & Telecommunication and Workshops among others ) have voluntarily come forward to be part of this novel initiative.
The Zone also partnered with IRCTC, which had been roped in to serve the needy from its base kitchen at Vijayawada, to serve the food in and around the city area.
Proper care was taken to ensure that the food being served at all locations was prepared in the most hygiene conditions . Efforts were also undertaken to identify requirements and staple food habits of various needy sections of the people, so as to prepare the food to suit their habits and taste.
The entire distribution mechanism has been finely chalked out with regard to setting up of community food preparation points, packing of food, logistics and identification of needy sections. More importantly, adequate care was also taken to assist the personnel who were dependent on railways as well. Licence Coolie porters, Hamalis and Safai Karmacharis among others were given food packets and also little cash at several locations to help them to tide over the testing times.
In a similar manner at Central Hospital Lallaguda, the patient’s attendees were also given free food with the contributions made by the Women’s Welfare Wing of the South Central Railway Gajanan Mallya , General Manager, SCR has been highly appreciative of the work being done by all the Railway Personnel in this regard.
He also complimented the efforts put in by several NGOs as well in identifying the needy and helping the Railways in distribution of free food to the needy in these critical times. He advised all the Railway men to continue with the initiative so as to assist the vulnerable sections in these critical times and contribute their bit in the efforts to alleviate the hunger of the needy.