In times of COVID-19 pandemic, election strategist Prashant Kishore's Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), which otherwise has expertise in devising and implementing election strategies for political parties, has launched a virtual kitchen called 'Sabki Rasoi' with the aim of providing cooked meals to at least 15 lakh people over a period of 10 days.
The IPAC started the initiative on April 5 to provide freshly cooked meals to people worst affected by the nationwide lockdown such as migrant labourers, daily-wage earners and the homeless. So far, 6.7 lakh meals have been delivered across 26 cities in the country. Around 1.5 lakh meals have been delivered at 70 locations in Delhi NCR region.
According to an IPAC spokesperson, the organisation is collaborating with three sets of partners in the domains of food preparation, packaging and delivery and distribution of meals. It has tied up with large kitchen groups that specialise in packaging and delivery, and grassroots feeding organisations.
He said the food preparation partners have a proven track record and the initiative deploys their expertise and resources to prepare food in their kitchens using the best industry practices. These entities are institutions that are able and willing to serve 50 or more people in their identified vicinities.
In the first phase of the initiative, which is supposed to be for ten days, around 1,000 professionals and other volunteers have joined in across hundreds of locations in selected cities.