Volunteers in Sambalpur provide free meals to needy through ‘Roti Bank’

SAMBALPUR: Every evening, an area under the flyover near Peer Baba Chhak in Sambalpur city turns into a makeshift dining space for dozens of poor and homeless people. Here, they are fed their last meal of the day from the ‘roti bank’, an initiative run by a group of volunteers who ensure none of them goes to sleep on an empty stomach.

Volunteers of a city-based organisation, Khidmat, started this initiative on Gandhi Jayanti last year. They began by serving 35 people every day and the number has gone up to 80 now. People across age groups wait patiently to get a meal of rice, roti, dal, vegetable curry and a paneer curry or sweet dish sometimes. There are 15 members in Khidmat, belonging to different religions, and eight of them are working for the ‘roti bank’.

One of the founders of the organisation Md Farooque said they had started a drive of feeding the poor and the needy before the Covid pandemic hit. However, it was discontinued after Covid situation subsided. “While we were willing to continue distribution of food, we were finding ways to sustain the drive and subsequently the idea of roti bank took shape,” he said.