‘Feed the needy’, a unique biryani challenge, is on the cards, with a mission to feed thousands of rough sleepers in Kerala and selected metro cities in the country.
Thanal, a Vadakara-based non-governmental organisation, is behind the mission, through which they plan to cook and sell about four lakh biryani packets. The plan is to sell a packet of biryani at ₹100. The 11-day challenge will formally begin in the State and selected metro cities on March 20 with a target to mobilise a total fund of ₹4 crore. People’s representatives from various districts will also lend a hand to promote the drive.
The organisers said they had been supplying free meals to about 4,000 destitute persons in various parts of the country for years. Thanal makes use of its own kitchens in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and New Delhi to cook the food at affordable rates and coordinate the free distribution. Many sponsors are also part of the drive.
“Through the biryani challenge, Thanal hopes to sell about two lakh biryani packets in Kozhikode district alone using its supporters’ and well-wishers’ network,” said M. Noufal, one of the coordinators of the project. The drive would be carried out in all districts, except Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha, using the NGO’s network to test the public response, he added.
The challenge is part of the organisation’s plan to increase the number of free meal beneficiaries by 2022-end. According to the organisers, the target is to supply free meals to 30,000 people in selected cities in Kerala and other States. “We take up this task along with ongoing humanitarian activities to support dialysis patients, HIV-infected persons, children with special needs and differently abled,” they added.
