Covid has rendered many factions of the society helpless, which ultimately resulted in food being a scarcity. Upon releasing the requirement for food, the Mega Kitchen of Adamya Chetana voluntary organisation reopened it doors with due adherence to all the safety protocols.
“We were the first to open our kitchen, doing all the procedures, after which many organisations followed,” said Dr Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, Managing Trustee/Chairperson of Adamya Chetana. Last year in November, the organisation started the initiative called as ‘Nithya Annadana’ (Everyday meals) to provide food daily to the ones in need. The fund for the daily meals is sponsored by various donors who give the share of money which they otherwise would have spend on various celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries which has been stopped since the pandemic.
“Adamya Chetana had provided food to 2000 people on the first death anniversary of Ananth Kumar but for the second anniversary which was during the middle of Covid, we couldn’t call such a large number of people together and hence we served food to about 500 people,” said Dr Tejaswini. She explained that common citizens came and inquired with the team on ways in which they can sponsor meals for a day or two and as the number of donors increased, Adamya Chetana went from one centre in Bengaluru to a total of 6 centres providing food. The centres are located at Kempegowda Nagar, Jayanagar 4th Block, Narayanahalli, Vijayanagar, Nagarathpete and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. “Per day on an average, 200 people are provided with nutritious food and the cost for a day’s expense is Rs 2500/- per center,” she said.
Adamya Chetana is a voluntary organisation working in the field of social development. The main principles on which the team is built include Anna, Akshara and Aarogya [Food – Education – Health], through which they have touched the lives of thousands of people in the society. From providing mid-day meals to nurturing education among the children, this organization has stood in the forefront of serving the society. The chief patron of the organization is Shri AnanthKumar, Union Cabinet Minister and MP from Bangaluru, who passed away on November 12 2018 at the age of 59. His vision of serving the people is carried on under the guidance of his wife Dr Tejaswini AnanthKumar who cofounded this nonprofit organization for social service. It was setup in 1998 in memory of Girija Shastry, mother of Ananth Kumar.
Since ‘Nithya Annadana’ was started in November, the organization has made sure to carry out the service till date without fail. “If we have more donors for a particular day, we save the money and use it for another day when we have less funds,” explained Dr Tejaswini. As the number of people to feed increased, the number of donors also increased, she expressed.
Another big project that the organisation has been working on since the end of April this year is to provide nutritious food to the Covid warriors. “Upon the request of our major sponsor Youth for Seva, we started this initiative and presently we are serving up to 7500 Covid warriors across various hospitals, vaccination centres, police stations and other places in Bengaluru,” she said, “More donors like Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust have come up to help us with this cause.”
Adamya Chetana is built upon the hardwork of its 40 to 50 volunteers and other staff workers of the Kitchen. They participate in preparing food, packaging to delivering to the people. Dr Tejaswini explained that that the staff working at the kitchen are stationed at the first and second floor of the Kitchen where arrangements have been made to accommodate them. “We have asked them to stay here because we don’t want to risk them infecting their family members by any chance,” she said.
She further said that the volunteers take turns to provide food for the kitchen staff who have left their families to work in the kitchen. “Everyday, during the night time, one of the volunteers take turns to prepare 100 chapatis and sabzi for our resident cooking staff,” she said.
Adamya Chetana is coming up with a plan to give out grocery kits which is filled with food products that would provide nutrition and boost immunity. “People are getting other food kit with wheat and rice and hence we are going to create a kit which comprises pulses, whole grains, millets, ragi and so on which will help to provide more nutrition, “she said. She explained that a Kashaya powder (Health drink) will also be included in the kit. “Even though this kit would be costly, it would be of big help to the local farmers from whom we would be buying the necessities,” Dr. Tejaswini added.
