Food packets sold like hotcakes on day two of the Annapurna Akshaypatra, a project started by the Indian Red Cross Society, Chandigarh. Organisers had to arrange for more packets as hordes of people rushed to the food vans set up at five locations across the city. Each food packet costs only Rs 10 and targets labourers, industrial workers and the needy.
The scheme especially aims at providing an affordable and nutritious diet to the economically weaker sections in the city.
A visit to the locations revealed that there was a huge rush of workers to buy the food packets. The van set up at the grain market in Sector 26 went out within 20 minutes, selling 100 food packets.
More packets were ordered as labourers started gathering in earnest to get the food. Not only labourers, but some students also came to get the food packets from the grain market van. In the evening when HT reached the Sector 26 location at around 6pm, labourers were spotted looking for the food van. They said the administration should clearly mention the exact spot where the van will be parked so that people don’t have to go looking for it.
{{/usCountry}}More packets were ordered as labourers started gathering in earnest to get the food. Not only labourers, but some students also came to get the food packets from the grain market van. In the evening when HT reached the Sector 26 location at around 6pm, labourers were spotted looking for the food van. They said the administration should clearly mention the exact spot where the van will be parked so that people don’t have to go looking for it.
{{/usCountry}}The scheme, launched on Monday, left workers curious and they were eagerly waiting to purchase the food packets. The UT deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi said, keeping in view certain complaints, they put chappatis and vegetables in one box instead of selling them separately.
Sources in the administration said preparations for cooking the food begins as early as 1pm followed by mechanised packaging. The scheme has also provided jobs to 50 people including women, who prepare and package the food. The machines set up inside the kitchen produce 2,000 chappatis in one hour. The administration purchased the machines for Rs 75 lakh.
The Indian Red Cross Society has started the project in co-ordination with the health department, labour department, food and supplies department, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chandigarh Sewa Bharti, Panchkula Gaushala Trust and Chandigarh Market Committee.