The very old business of food delivery by Dabbawalas is in danger because of the lockdown for the past year. The primary source of income for a lot of people in Mumbai is this food delivery system but ever since the Corona Virus spread, like many other businesses, this too was affected. ITC in collaboration with Akshay Patra Foundation has launched the ‘Basket of Care’ to provide food to those who have lost their sources of income due to the pandemic. Indeed a very thoughtful step towards the betterment of our society.
Mumbai’s Dabbawalas have a great history. Wearing a Gandhi cap and white clothes, Mumbai is the home to more than 5,000 Dabbawalas whose daily job is to deliver home-cooked lunch to their customers. The journey of the very first Dabbawala began when a Parsi banker wanted to have home-cooked food in his office. That is when the very first Dabbawala was appointed. From then on the idea spread wildly and today, as we see it is the primary source of income for many.
This collaborative initiative of ITC and Akshay Patra Foundation is being carried out across Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Two types of baskets are available on the ITC website:
• Care Basket 1 (Rs. 500), suitable for feeding a family of 5 for approximately 10 days and
• Care Basket 2 (Rs. 1000), suitable for feeding a family of 10 for 30 days.
The basket contains flour, salt, chili, coriander, turmeric, Savlon antiseptic, Svasti ghee, and Savlon mask.
Citizens can visit either ITC’s or Akshay Patra’s websites, and do their part by taking care of a family of any daily wage worker by gifting them this basket which contains food and sanitation supplies of a month.
Commenting on the initiative, an ITC spokesperson said, “The country has been continuing its fight against the pandemic. Among the most impacted, there are a sizeable number of individuals who are unable to acquire basic necessities for daily food consumption and require additional support and assistance to help them get back on their feet. The resilient citizen-driven initiatives have been extremely heart-warming and at ITC Ltd, this sentiment has encouraged us to create multiple avenues aiding and amplifying these thoughtful efforts in a bid to assist those impacted by the pandemic.”
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