Youngsters join hands with TTD to serve food to 80,000 amidst lockdown

Sandeep Raghavan | TNN | Updated: Apr 13, 2020, 20:06 IST

Everyday 35,000-40,000 food packets for lunch and a similar number of food packets for dinner are being distributed across 50 wards in Tirupati.

Everyday 35,000-40,000 food packets for lunch and a similar number of food packets for dinner are being distri...Read More

TIRUPATI: About 40 odd youngsters emerging from different backgrounds have come together onto a common platform to prove the adage "testing times bring out the true character within," by opting out to serve the needy and all those in distress during the lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak.
Today, a mass feeding programme for nearly 80,000 people everyday amidst a complete lockdown is under way in the temple city.
All this started on a quiet note about a fortnight ago, when Bhumana Abhinay Reddy, a local youth-wing leader of the YSR Congress Party, approached the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams with an appeal to cook and provide free meals to the poor and the destitute in Tirupati.
After the TTD management readily agreed to extend support, many like-minded friends, followers and supporters, joined hands with Bhumana Abhinay Reddy, in reaching out to the poor with free food packets twice a day.
The 40-odd youngsters from different streams of work, some of them entrepreneurs, a few engineers working with software giants like the Oracle corporation, some petty traders etc, along with local support, have distributed more than 14 lakh food packets, at the rate of 70,000-80,000 food packets everyday from March 28 till today.
Leaving behind their corporate boardrooms and comfort zones, these youngsters who work in two shifts between 7am - 2pm and 4pm - 9pm every single day at TTD's Srinivasam complex in the city, have ensured not a single soul had to starve without food amidst a total shutdown of the temple city over the last couple of weeks.
Right from packing hot meals to serving them to the plates of the poor, these youngsters are almost working round the clock in the lock-down, and their only take back from all these efforts is a big smile on the face of the poor, which they strongly feel is priceless by all means.
Speaking to TOI, Bhumana Abhinay Reddy pointed out that there are 42 odd slums spread across the 50 wards under the municipal corporation limits. Before we started the free food distribution, people including children and elderly residing in these slums were deprived off food and were starving without access to food, which is a basic necessity of human life. But today, with TTD's support, the poor have access to free food twice a day.
''There were many challenges when we first started. While TTD has resources to cook delicious food, identifying the needy and distributing them at the very doorsteps of the people was quite a challenging task. To overcome these challenges, we have roped in the services of nearly 400 odd youth wing workers of the YSR Congress Party, who have very good knowledge of every nook and corner of the temple city. Today, free food is being distributed scientifically and in a systematic manner every single day'', added the YSRC youth wing leader.
Bhumana Abhinay Reddy thanked Tirupati MLA B Karunakar Reddy, TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy, his set of 40-odd friends and the YSRC activists for coming together onto a common platform to ensure the needy have access to two square meals a day free of cost, bringing not only cheers on the faces of the impoverished but also a sense of contentment among them.