People who are starving due to poverty will say that there is no bigger problem in the world than that. Hunger due to poverty is still a crisis faced by at least a quarter of the world's population. Few people in Kerala are also facing the reality of hunger during this pandemic. Many have no income to live on. The hunger of loved ones is greater for many than their own hunger. The community kitchens that have been and are being run by the government, local bodies, private individuals and organizations should not be ignored. Prior to the outbreak, major temples and churches used to regularly organize annandanam. Not everyone who came to eat there must have come just for the sake of faith. In this context, the Kochi Corporation has announced that it will start a scheme to provide food for Rs.10. In today’s situation, it is very welcome. The decision was made to provide food for Rs 10 in the afternoon and at night. This is the first time in the country that such a food distribution network has been set up under the leadership of a local body. The project might be implemented in collaboration with Kudumbasree. In Kochi, the industrial capital of Kerala, many generous entrepreneurs will help to take such an initiative forward. The project aims to start as soon as the Covid-affected mayor
Adv M Anilkumar returns from illness. For this, the Libra Hotel on Ernakulam North Paramara Road will be converted into a centralized kitchen. This is the site of the corporation that had been abandoned for years. Renovation of the Libra Hotel is underway ahead of the project. If this project performs well, the LDF, which returned to power in the Kochi Corporation after 10 years, will set an example for other corporations in the country.

Many projects like this, which are launched amid huge celebrations, have turned out to be short-lived. That should not happen here. Even if the price goes down, the taste of the food should not go down. That alone will ensure that the project becomes a success. Even though the Amma canteens in Tamil Nadu provide food at cheap rates, the food tastes good. These Amma canteens continue to function even after Stalin came to power. He even ordered the arrest of his own party workers who had vandalized one such canteen. The leader did so because he realized the ultimate truth that the way to the human heart is through the stomach. The construction of roads and bridges is not the only development. Providing food at a cheaper rate is also a benevolent development.

Apart from Tamil Nadu, similar schemes are being implemented at the government level in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. All this was guided by about 300 Amma canteens in Tamil Nadu that offer idli for one rupee and rice and sambar for five rupees.

Let us hope that the meal for ten rupees project by Kochi Corporation will turn out to be a great success. A meal of ten rupees is priceless to the hungry.