The Indian Railways distributed over one lakh cooked meals till Wednesday, starting from March 28, to the needy people during coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown. The Railways continued to provide bulk cooked food with paper plates for lunch and food packets for dinner through base kitchens of IRCTC with the help of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), commercial departments of zones, state governments and NGOs. Also, while delivering the food to needy persons, social distancing and hygiene are being observed.
Starting with 2,700 meals on March 28, IRCTC has prepared and distributed 11,530 meals on March 29, 20,487 meals on March 30, 30,850 meals on March 3 and 37,370 meals on April 1 at 23 locations.
From its kitchens in New Delhi, Bangalore, Hubli, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad, Bhusaval, Howrah, Patna, Gaya, Ranchi, Katihar, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, Balasore, Vijaywada, Khurda, Kaadpali, Tiruchirapalli, Dhanbad, Guwahati and Samastipur spread over various zones such as Northern, Western, Eastern, Southern and South Central, IRCTC has so far distributed about 102,937 meals to the poor and the needy from March 28.
The RPF has been involved in a big way in the food distribution to needy people by Indian Railways. The details are as follows:
• 5419 needy persons were provided food by RPF over 74 locations on 28.03.2020. In addition to food prepared in IRCTC kitchens, food for 2719 persons was sourced from internal resources of RPF.
• 21568 needy persons were provided food by RPF over 146 locations on 29.03.2020. In addition to food prepared in IRCTC kitchens, food for 8790 persons was sourced from internal resources of RPF while food for 4150 persons was distributed in association with NGOs.
• 30741 needy persons were provided with food by RPF over 186 locations on 30.03.2020. In addition to food prepared in IRCTC kitchens, food for 12453 persons was sourced from internal resources of RPF while food for 3746 persons was distributed in association with NGOs.
• 38045 needy persons were provided with food by RPF over 196 locations on 31.3.2020. In addition to food prepared in IRCTC kitchens, food for 14633 persons was sourced from internal resources of RPF while food for 4072 persons was distributed in association with NGOs.
Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal had also directed the officials of Indian Railways to reach out to needy people with food and other assistance to the best of their human abilities and resources. The Minister had said that Railways should widen the outreach of their efforts and go beyond the proximities of railways stations to deeper areas in consultation with district authorities and NGOs etc.
It may be noted that Indian Railways is gearing up to meet any higher demand to provide food to needy in the times of lockdown, which has been imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Indian Railways is ready for any contingency and adequate stocks of foodgrains and other raw material are being maintained.
