More than a month into curfew now, the migrants, labourers and slum dwellers who are being supplied cooked food daily by the district administration, say they are bored of eating rice daily and want a change in the menu.
In Mohali district, as many as 18 community kitchens operate daily to provide cooked food to around 30,000 people. Each kitchen caters to a particular area.
In Kharar, these community kitchens were operational till April 20, but were later discontinued amid fears of spread of coronavirus. Dry ration is now supplied instead.
The menu of the community kitchens depends entirely on the donations received in terms of raw material. Considering the inability of the administration to engage huge manpower, the kitchens resort to making food that requires less cooks. As a result, making rotis is not viable and the needy are provided with rice and cooked vegetables or pulses instead.
SPECIAL DESSERT REQUESTS A DAILY OCCURRENCE
“We regularly get requests to bring something sweet along with the food. Special requests for paneer and soya chunks are received, too. Interestingly, most of the people making requests for rotis are from states where rice is a staple,” said a senior administrative official, not wishing to be named.
“We received bulk donations of potatoes and cauliflower once, so we repeated the same dish for a few days. The residents called up complaining that the menu was repetitive,” said another official.
{{/usCountry}}“We received bulk donations of potatoes and cauliflower once, so we repeated the same dish for a few days. The residents called up complaining that the menu was repetitive,” said another official.
{{/usCountry}}“A few days ago, potatoes and rice were being served in a market in Dera Bassi, but many refused to eat. Apparently, word had spread soya chunks had been served in another part of the sub-division. It took a lot of effort to convince them that those were rumours,” he added.
“We have to change the menu daily and introduce varieties like chhole-puri, roti-sabzi, kadi-chawal,” said JP Singh, president of Phase 4 gurdwara that supplies cooked food in different areas of Mohali.
Rajinder Singh, manager of Amb Sahib gurdwara in Phase 8, said, “We stopped going out to distribute community meals after the administration asked us to restrict movement. But, we are feeding those who come to the gurdwara premises on a daily basis.”
DEMAND FOR DRY RATION GROWING
Beneficiaries demand for dry ration is also growing by the day. “Kichdi se kya banta hai, roti sabzi ho too zada acha hai (Rice and lentils are not enough; if we are served vegetables, that would be better),” said Nirmala of Sukhna Colony, adding, “Ration de dete to hum khud hi ghar mein bana le khana. Sabzi aaram se mil jati hai. Roz line mein khada hone se bach jayenge. (If we are provided with dry ration instead, we can cook the food ourselves. Vegetables are available anyway. This way we wouldn’t have to stand in queues.)”
Sakuntala, while standing in a queue for cooked food in a Zirakpur market, said, “Only one packet of food is provided for two persons, which is not enough for the whole family. Administration should instead supply dry ration, so that we can eat well.”