IMPACT of providing Grocery Kits to Mid-Day Meal Cooks in collaboration with RIST-PFC – Telangana – Phase II

Annapoorna Trust in collaboration with ‘Rural India Supporting Trust’ (RIST) and ‘Partnerships For Change’ (PFC) has been reaching out to support the families of an overall 15,000 Government Mid-Day Meal (MDM) cooks. 

As a part of this relief programme during Phase-II of the project, around 681 mid-day meal cooks & needy beneficiaries across various mandals in NagarKurnool, Sircilla, Bhuvanagiri, Jagitial, and Hyderabad districts received one-month dry ration kits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a “dramatic loss” of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating.  Informal economy workers are particularly vulnerable because the majority lack social protection and access to quality health care. Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food, or, at best, less food and less nutritious food. At a time when there was so much uncertainty looming around, in anticipation of the third wave of covid, Annapoorna, RIST & PFC trusts came forward in the assistance of the needy public at large.

Details of the distribution is as below:

Each dry ration kit consists of 10kg of rice, 2kg of wheat flour, 1 kg of toor dal, 1kg chana dal, 1ltr cooking oil, 2kg of sugar, 1kg of salt, vermicelli, chilli powder, jeera, mustard, and turmeric.

On 16th August, 250 private school teachers in Nagar Kurnool were provided dry ration kits. This was a solace and a relief to them since there were not many organizations coming forward to the assistance of private school teachers who had either lost their current jobs or been paid marginally due to school closure & COVID pandemic.

One of the teachers shared her gratitude with us saying, “We are a family of six comprising of four sisters & two elderlies at home. We are in dire need of help currently. We are very much thankful for not only helping me but my whole family.”

Another teacher expressed her feelings, “We have not received any salaries since the last two years from school. We are delighted to get assistance during this pandemic time & hoping for more such services & initiatives from the Trust.”

Likewise, another private school teacher thanked wholeheartedly for lending a helping hand at a juncture where it is very hard to even pay the children’s school fees.

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Majority of the beneficiaries in Janga Reddy – Nagar Kurnool & Hyderabad city are blue-collared workers from lower strata of society, who either do not have any job in hand due to ongoing pandemic or doing some menial jobs to make their ends meet.  

Below are the testimonials from cooks in Jagitial & Sircilla districts:

One of the cooks said, “Since the last one and half year, schools were closed due to COVID pandemic. Mid-day meal cooks did not receive any salary due to which they had to face various kinds of problems. At such a crucial time, RIST, PFC & Sai Trust have come forward to assist us by giving provisions. This is a great service and has been very helpful to us in this pandemic time. Our sincere gratitude towards the Trust on behalf of our school staff and cooks. Thank You.”

Another cook told, “Last year, Annapoorna Trust provided us with SaiSure health mix powder and provision items. We are without any earnings since the schools were closed.. Now that we have received the provisions, my family can have food properly and we are very happy to receive these items. We are grateful to the Lord for showering such grace on us.”

Likewise, another lady narrated her grievances to us, “I am very poor living in a rented house to live in. Due to grace of the almighty lord, I was able to get a mid-day meal cook job. Last year we had received grocery items from the Sai Trust which we had utilized happily at our homes. Now that we have received the provisions again from RIST foundation & Annapoorna Trust, we express our thanks in thousand-fold for the support rendered to us.” 

Lastly another cookshared, “I am working as a cook at the school. We and our children faced a lot of difficulties since past two years due to COVID pandemic with no income in hand. We are grateful to the Trust for having  helped us both the years.”

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To know more about Annapoorna’s prevention and relief activities during the covid pandemic, glance through our content and newsletters at COVID-19 Support