Health Minister T. Harish Rao on Monday inaugurated the Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation’s (HKMCF) ‘centralised kitchen’ at Narsingi which has been set up to cater to the government’s ₹5-a-meal for patient attendants at 18 designated State-run hospitals across the twin cities.
HKMCF is the executing partner for the scheme and the new facility can serve upto 10,000 persons daily. It has been built with the sponsorship of ₹2.5 crore from patrons — Vattam Ramesh Babu and Pradeep Gopal Agarwal and their families. Breakfast, lunch and dinner each costs ₹5.
HKMCF-Telangana president Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa was present at the inauguration.
The foundation has been providing free food at hospitals and market yards in partnership with donors, apart from providing subsidised food to the needy in collaboration with government bodies, through its centralised community kitchens under programmes like Bhojana-Amritam, Saddimoota and Annapurna (₹5 meal programme in partnership with GHMC and other municipalities), which feeds about 65,000 mouths every day.
It has served cumulative meals of about 13 crore, over the past 10 years. MLAs T. Prakash Goud and Koppula Mahesh Reddy, MLC Boggarapu Dayanand, TSMSIDC managing director Chandrasekhar Reddy, Rangareddy Zilla Parishad chairperson Anitha Reddy and municipal chairperson Rekha Yadhagiri also participated in the programme, said a press release.
