Food served to corona warriors through Jai Jagat Kitchen at Gandhi Bhawan in the city certainly offers much to chew on.
To keep health workers and policemen in pink, the kitchen offers free meals to 60 people thrice a day.
The food supply begins with the breakfast from 8.30 to 10:30 am. The lunch is served from 1 to 3 pm and the dinner from 8:30 to 10:30 pm. The breakfast consists of sprouted gram, Poha, Daliya, Upma and Puri-sabji. Daal-chawal, Kadhi-chawal, chhola-chawal, Pulao, salad and Raita are served for the lunch.
The dinner is more delicious comprising Roti and seasonal vegetables with Aam ka Aachar (mango pickle). Tea is provided from 8am to 6pm. A counter has been set up to serve food. Corona warriors can relish food and interact with one another, maintaining social distancing and hygiene.
Ekta Parishad and Urban Youth team, Bhopal, have been running the kitchen since May 4. National Convener of Ekta Parishad, Aneesh Thillenkery, told Free Press that they were distributing food packets and ration to the needy.
Nevertheless, when they realised that the corona warriors working for 24x7 to protect people from the virus were not getting food, they set the up kitchen.
“We have decided to provide healthy food to keep the corona warriors healthy,” he said. Initially, the group served food to 28 warriors. Now, the number has gone up to 60.
Most of them are policemen and health workers who are staying at Gandhi Bhawan, Hindi Bhawan and Gujarati Bhawan in the city, he said. The organisation is also serving food to sanitation workers and guards at Gandhi Bhawan and delivering food to health workers at Gujarati Bhawan. “We are getting good response. Some of the policemen also come from Moti Maszid to take tea, he said.
About the budget, Aneesh said initially they had spent money on their own, but now, they are getting support from people. Three meals a day for 60 people cost them Rs 6,000, he said.
A volunteer of Urban Youth team Neeru Divakar and his mother Saroj are managing the kitchen. Neeru lives at Patrakar colony and brings the cooked food made by his mother at home to Gandhi Bhawan. Two paid helpers and two friends help him bring the food.
“We have made diet chart according to summer and according to the schedule of the health workers and policemen. We change the menu daily,” he said.
Sprouted gram, Daliya, Upma, Poha, Puri-sabji are served for the breakfast and Daal-chawal, Kadhi-chawal, Chhola-chawal, Pulao are served for the lunch. Roti with a seasonal Sabji is served for the dinner. No junk and oily food is given, Diwakar said.
Neeru begins to cook at 6 am and finishes at 9 pm. He reaches home at 11 pm after serving food.
SI of Shyamla Hills police station Bharat Prasad said he got family atmosphere at JJ Kitchen. “We were getting food earlier, but the same food was served to us daily. At JJ Kitchen, the menu is changed daily,” he said.
Similarly, Dr Ashu Nema said the food provided by JJ Kitchen was delicious and nutritious. “You need nutritious diet when you work round the clock. Earlier, we were not getting proper food from the hospital we are working for,” the doctor said.
Aneesh, staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi, said Gandhiji said: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. And, the organisation is following that.
