Kolkata: Langar on Wheels feeds 25 lakh over last one year

KOLKATA: Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the state, IHA Foundation has been serving the needy people in Bengal by holding Langar on Wheels that has reached 25 lakh beneficiaries over the last one year.
During the lockdown in March last year, Satnam Singh Ahluwalia, chairman of the IHA Foundation, was approached by Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s top brass to arrange langar (food) for the people who were kept at the temporary shelters in the city.
Since then the foundation has been continuously serving people, irrespective of any caste and creed.
“The temporary shelters were set up in the areas where beggars, rag pickers and others living on the streets were quarantined. In each shelter, there were around 400 people in the areas like Kalighat, Bowbazar, Dover Lane, Paikpara and others. We started holding langars the next day after receiving requests from the KMC. From one thousand people, we started serving almost 10,000 people every day,” said Ahluwalia.
He added that even the migrant workers, who were stuck in the city, were served food.
“After some days, we realized that it was difficult for people to reach a particular place where the langar was held. So, we developed the concept of Langar on Wheels that reached the districts like Howrah and South 24 Parganas,” he said.
“The pandemic situation has gone out of control for the last few days. Every other phone call is related to some sort of medical help. We shall continue to help the needy people. We are assisting people outside hospitals, bus stands, railway stations and slums,” said Ahluwalia.