Bhubaneswar: With a view to reducing wastage of surplus food and feeding the same to the needy in the Capital city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to rope in non-profit organisation (NPO) for collection and distribution of excess food.
Observing the excess food being wasted on a daily basis, the civic authority has come up with the initiative which will bridge the gap between destitute, poor and hungry and individuals and organisations willing to give surplus food. A tender has been floated by the BMC looking for NPO for a period of two years that will be involved in efficient collection and distribution of excess food.
“The NPO in consultation with the BMC will identify suitable location for distribution of food which can be changed later. It will also arrange necessary storage places for food, container, utensils and volunteers to execute the project. However, food collection, transportation and distribution will be done strictly as per the approved Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the BMC,” a senior official at the BMC said.
The official also mentioned that the responsibility of quality and condition of food will be given completely to the organisation hired. The food will be inspected by the Food Inspector which the NPO will have to organise.
“BMC under any circumstances will not be responsible for any eventuality of food poisoning or any other mishap due to serving of food,” the official added.
Moreover, the NPO that will identify point of origin of excess food, such as hotels, hostels, mandaps, and celebration events/organisers and will submit the list along with method, locations and time of distribution to the BMC.
Meanwhile, the civic authority will engage in pursuing the hotel and restaurant owners, party organizers and Kalyan Mandaps to handover excess food to the BMC engaged organization. It will also provide a 24×7 exclusive toll-free number to the stakeholders/donors willing to call for the purpose of donation of excess food.
It can be mentioned that earlier individual organisations in Capital city had installed community fridges and food banks to alleviate hunger. However, owing to lack of awareness and transportation of large quantities of excess food, the initiatives couldn’t get much traction.
“We have been urging the authorities to formulate an efficient system so that the hungry could benefit from the excess food thrown on a daily basis. While the restaurants, hotels and other places are willing to offer the excess food, they don’t have adequate transportation, storage or distribution facilities. Hopefully, the civic authority’s new initiative kicks off so that no one sleeps hungry,” said Sukanti Chand Behera, a Right to Food activist here.