HYDERABAD: This Independence Day, as many as 900 underprivileged families where the breadwinner has been quarantined due to Covid-19 will get free food at their doorstep every day until the person is fit to work again.
The effort is being taken by a 22-year-old entrepreneur, Prasanna Kumar, who is set to help people tide over the crisis
What began as a small initiative in 2018 where he was paying school fees for underprivileged children, soon expanded to helping people during the lockdown as businesses shut and now families that are affected by Covid-19.
“We decided to support Covid-19 affected families where either the breadwinner of the family or someone who takes care of daily meals is quarantined. We will be giving dry ration or hot meals twice a day to these families every day,” said Kumar. He has set up two food distribution centers – Malkajgiri and Miyapur – to reach out to people.
The young lad, who is an engineering drop-out and has had two failed attempts at entrepreneurship in the past, is determined to bring a change with his work. He took to Twitter to announce his plan on August 10, where he said he will provide free food to 400 Covid-19 affected families near Hyderabad. The tweet soon gathered steam as more than 2,000 people reposted it.
“After putting out the tweet, I received several calls. While some tried to verify the post, many others sought help. Following an overwhelming response to my tweet, I decided to increase the number of families from 400 to 900,” said Kumar.
He claims to have spent close to Rs 12 lakh in the last five months from his pocket and is set to spend another Rs 25-30 lakh towards this new initiative being launched on the Independence Day