This Delhi-Based NGO Provides Free Meals To Underprivileged People Outside Hospitals

People from underprivileged backgrounds to big hospitals for treatment often have a hard time facing many challenges. Poor patients and their caregivers usually skip their meals to save money. Delhi's Uday Foundation has been working closely to help these people by serving free, wholesome food. They fund daily meals of poor people outside All India Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Many patients reach the hospital's Open Patient Department (OPD) every year, but only 2,500 to 3,000 people can be accommodated for treatment at a time. Other people are left outside, and patients, and surviving without proper food and accommodation facilities is a big challenge. Uday Foundation can provide meals to around 1000 people, with every person's meal costing them about 11 rupees. In 2017, they started a drive to collect and recycle old newspapers to fund free meals for poor people.

"The basic idea is that you donate old newspapers, and then we send these for recycling, and whatever amount we get out of it, we feed people over here. Right now, we can provide food for around 1,000 people twice a week," said Rahul Verma, the founder of Uday Foundation, told Hindustan Times.

The organization was able to collect 600 kgs of newspaper in a month in 2017. Moreover, 10 kgs of newspapers can help fund one meal to 12 people each. The NGO also encourages companies to donate funds for the campaign under corporate social responsibility.

Background

In 2006, Tulika and Rahul( founder of the NGO) gave birth to their son Arjunuday, born with multiple congenital disabilities. He went through nine correction surgeries and 11 hospital stays. During these challenging times, they learned about the various problems faced by underprivileged patients and their families.

"During hospital days, I came to know of various heart-rending stories of underprivileged patients and their struggles. I decided to end my corporate career of 10 years with work experience in Citibank DSA, Birla Sunlife and Entremonde to give full time to our son and Uday Foundation," as stated by Rahul Verma on Uday foundation's website.

Hunger Issue In India

The issue of hunger has been deep-rooted in India, and the situation has only gotten worse because of the pandemic. In the Global Hunger Index report of 2021, India slipped to the 101st country after the pandemic, and earlier, it was at the 94th position in 2020. Serious concerns and discussions have been raised regarding the issue of hunger in India as it leads to severe health conditions amongst people.

A Gaon Connection survey showed that around 35 per cent of the households went without eating the whole day, either many times or sometimes. About 38 per cent skipped an entire meal in a day. Action Aid found that nearly 35 per cent of workers from the informal sector were eating less than two meals a day during the pandemic.

Moreover, underprivileged people have been adversely affected by the pandemic. Hunger issues have arisen with the increased loss of jobs and magnifying poverty. Hospitalizations during this time for the poor have further worsened the situation. The family members of underprivileged patients in government hospitals suffer even more as they decide to stay hungry to save money for their kin's treatment.

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