Narayan Patra- GMRVF's initiative to feed the needy

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Narayan Patra- GMRVF's initiative to feed the needy

12 March 2021

"There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."- Mahatma Gandhi

India ranked 94 among 107 nations in the Global Hunger Index 2020 and is in the "serious" hunger category with experts suggesting this to be a result of poor implementation processes, lack of effective monitoring, siloed approach in tackling malnutrition and poor performance by large states. Last year, India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries.

This situation can't be tackled with the effort from one section of the society, but demands collaborative efforts, consistent participation and innovative initiatives from all. One such long term sustainable plan has been undertaken by GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMRVF), the CSR wing of GMR Group. As per the plan, Hyderabad unit of GMRVF is implementing Narayan Patra program where every employee puts aside a fistful of rice before they begin cooking for the day. These grains are then collected at the end of a fixed period - a month or more and are then distributed among the needy.

This noble cause was initiated on the first day of year 2021, i.e, January 1, 2021 by GHIAL CEO, Mr. Pradeep Panicker through a mail requesting participation of all employees for this noble cause. During the month of January 2021 close to 300 employees participated from GHIAL and JVs contributed an incredible 1500 kgs of rice! The collected rice was handed over to Youth For Seva on February 2, 2021. And with each passing month, more and more employees are connecting with the programme, ensuring increased support to maximum number of needy in the society.

The GMR Group in Hyderabad has initiated this campaign to feed the hungry in association with an NGO called Youth For Seva (YFS). The YFS was founded in 2007 and is working in Education, Health sectors and involved in social service activities. YFS has a presence in 13 states in India with about 1 Lakh volunteers and it has reached out to more than 6 million beneficiaries since inception.

The program is well planned and executed. Department Coordinators are designated by respective department heads, in GMR Hyderabad office to provide the list of number of employees who contributed every month. And the status about the distribution, including details about the amount of ration being distributed, date and time of distribution is shared with all employees on a monthly basis.

The Ration collection containers are kept at Aero Towers, Old site office, GMR Cargo, GMR Aerotechnic and GMR Township etc. All interested employees have to deposit their share of ration in these containers on 28th - 30th of every month between 11am-5pm. Post this, Youth for Seva volunteers and a few employees from GMR distribute the collected ration amongst the needy.

Considering the success of Narayan Patra initiative at GMR's Hyderabad office, the group is now planning to expand this program across all its offices in different locations.