This hunger warrior from Mumbai is feeding 1,000 underprivileged children every day
In addition to providing nutritious meals once a day, Chinu Kwatra-led Roti Ghar also mentors and teaches children about basic hygiene.
Today, India is considered as one of the emerging superpowers of the world. But it is also worrying to see kids rummaging for food in dustbins and going hungry for days.
A recent survey by the Global Hunger Index revealed that India stands at 102 position out of 117 qualifying countries. What seems to be an alarming issue is the fact that India scored 30.3 points, which falls into the serious category.
While there are several initiatives ranging from mid-day meals to Indira canteens being set up to solve the hunger issue, the problem still persists.
Roti Ghar founder, Chinu Kwatra (Image: SBS Hindi)
However, besides government initiatives, many individuals have also come up to address the issue in their personal capacity. For instance, Roti Ghar, started by Khusiyaan Foundation, is feeding more than 1,000 poor children daily.
Its primary aim is to feed children from marginalised sections to get one proper nutritional meal every day in Maharashtra, Odisha, and Karnataka.
Talking to NDTV, Chinu Kwatra, Founder, Roti Ghar, who is also an MBA graduate, said,
“We have our centralised kitchen monitored by my father. I have seen at many places restaurant owners distributing the leftover food among the underprivileged sections of the neighbourhood. But feeding stale and leftover food to the kids who are already suffering from malnutrition does not help them at all. It rather deteriorates their health further.”
(Image: SBS Hindi)
Started in December 2017, Roti Ghar, which initially served 100 children daily, also mentors and teaches them about basic hygiene practices.
Chinu adds, “I started thinking about starting ‘Roti Ghar’ when I saw that hunger was very much prevalent in the slums of Mumbai. There were instances where children lost lives to hunger. I used to hear about such instances even while growing up, and so I decided to do something about it. So, I got along with a few volunteers of my NGO, Khushiyaan Foundation, and started this initiative,” reports NDTV.
(Image: SBS Hindi)
He says, children are asked to bring their own plates to avoid disposable garbage, and in the process, we want to protect the environment.
The meal consists of a portion of dal, rice, and some pickle. The initiative is completely run with the help of donors, and Roti Ghar daily spends around Rs 3,500 for the meals. Recently, the foundation also added a boiled egg to the weekly meal for the children.
Chinu adds, “To begin with, some of them were shy and some would snatch food from others. But gradually, they set some ground rules and taught them to form a queue. They are also taught the basic rule of washing their hands before they eat”, reports SBS Hindi.
In terms of maintaining personal hygiene, the volunteers are provided with toothpaste, a toothbrush, and sanitary napkins for menstrual hygiene.
Chinu says: “After distributing food, each volunteer does some basic teaching with groups of three to four kids. He wants the group to grow and serve not just the people who make a living at the dumping ground, but to cover 1,000 underprivileged people by the end of the year. Apart from giving food and hygiene lessons, he also wants to conduct periodic medical camps if the group can manage to generate enough funds. The mission stays clear: We want to serve as many people as possible,” reports NDTV.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)
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