"Gorkhaland kitchen" feeds over 500 people

Nisha Chhetri, SNS, Kalimpong 10 July 2017; Marking the 26th day of the indefinite strike, the unrest hills are going on Rations have reached to a point of exhaustion in the prolonged days of the ongoing strike.

The groceries are limited and most of the food items which were stocked are about to finish. The' United Forum for the Civil Society of Gorkhaland' has been distributing food to the people in the Motor Stand.

The revived stir has definitely hit hard on the normalcy of the hills as business transactions, educational institutions and tourism has been shut for almost a month now. The shopkeepers have denied to sell the remaining stocks of sugar, and flour here.

Although, there are less ways of purchasing goods, another challenge stands as a challenge to the civilians the monetary crisis.

When the strike was called, people were unprepared, they failed to withdraw cash on time leaving them with no option than go cashless!

But on the other hand, the government has been making policies to appease the agitation by restricting the transportation of goods in the hills. This is their trick to stop the agitation in Darjeeling hills," believes the members of UFCSG.

However the United Forum for the civil Society of Gorkhaland understanding all the problems of the people has come to the street and have started to cook food,in large quantities to distribute it to the people who come for the procession."A set of people are quite vulnerable, the labourers specially, They are in huge shortage of food and water. Providing them one time food will ease away their one-time-worry" believes Bishnu Chettri the convenor of the forum. 

A fund of Rs one lakh for the food was contributed by the farmers of Krishak Kalyan Sangathan and more than 500 people were able to fill their stomach today with the help of food cooked at the community kitchen which they have named as "Gorkhaland Kitchen."

"This kitchen is an answer to the government who has been restricting groceries to transport to the hills. Our efforts will also keep the momentum intact," said Chettri, adding that the kithcen will continue till the food crisis goes on.

Meanwhile, Who-Cares, an NGO working for the street beggars have decided to contribute its support in the kitchen work.

The team had assumed that there will be more people to consume the food from the Gorkhaland Kitchen from tomorrow as they have found through survey that more than 500 families are working as a daily wage labourers and it is more important to feed them at this point of time.