Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that the government had made arrangements to feed at least 4 lakh poor people beginning today amid a nationwide lockdown to halt the spread of the Covid-19 disease.

On Saturday, Kejriwal thanked the administration of the various Gurdwaras dotting the city, the Radha Soami Satsang Beas and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for the massive efforts these organisations have put in to feed poor people and migrant labourers stranded due to the lockdown.

Meanwhile with the motto ‘Seva’ Ramakrishna Mission New Delhi branch of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Belur West Bengal,  already took up primary relief work shortly after the 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to contain spread of Covid-19.

Swami Shantatmananda, Secretary, said that “Lakhs of people have lost their livelihood. The daily labourers and other segments of the poor and downtrodden society are facing insurmountable hardships. As a humble effort to mitigate the sufferings of a small number of such people, we have started distribution of Kichuri Prasad from Thursday in front of our mission premise at Paharganj adhering with advisory issued by Govt. of India.”

“We conducted a survey in a nearby slum and started distribution of Kichuri Prasad between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm daily, strictly following social distancing and other necessary precautions. Stating with 472 persons on day one, it crossed 600 persons in next two days, we are expecting it may further go up to 750 person’s daily.” he added.

He also informed The Statesman that this relief operation would continue for 20 days with planning to provide food in night also, and asked from devotees of Mission and general public as well to contribute for this noble cause.

He said “This relief operation would continue for 20 days to all indentified Daridra Narayanas.  The average expenditure per day is around Rs. 35000/- to Rs 40000/- for one time. Those of you who wish to participate in this noble endeavor may contribute any amount through our website https://www.rkmdelhi.org/donations/”