12 new mobile kitchens to expand ‘Koi Bhuka Na Soye’ programme

Islamabad:Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Shelter Homes Naseem ur Rehman Monday said 12 more mobile kitchens would be functional in a fortnight under ‘Koi-Bhuka-Na-Soye’ programme to provide cooked meal twice a day to the poor and labourers in different cities.

He said two mobile kitchens were currently extending their services for the poor and labour community of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. With the additional 12 kitchens, the programme would now have an expanded outreach in other major cities.

Four new mobile kitchens had already been purchased and the procurement of eight was in process, the focal person told APP in an exclusive interview. Naseem said he along with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar and Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division had visited the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) headquarters the other day to review the progress about the new mobile kitchens.

Dr Sania herself examined the trucks and gave instruction to the PBM teams to ensure deployment of the ''meals on wheels'' before the start of Holy Month of Ramazan, he added. Naseem said the programme was recently launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan under which currently two Ehsaas food trucks were serving free quality cooked food at various points across Rawalpindi and Islamabad, including hospitals, bus stations, slums and other public places with utmost dignity.

The two trucks were feeding two meals to around 2,000 people daily, targeting those who could not reach the Panahgahs for food, he added. The focal person said the procurement of more 12 meals on wheels would help reach other areas having poor population.

He said the programme was meant to supplement the services, being provided by the static shelter homes also known as Panahgahs. It had been designed in a public private partnership mode whereby the PBM would be responsible for the operations of food trucks and Saylani Welfare International Trust would be responsible for the provision of meals, he added.

Explaining the mobile kitchens, he said under the initiative, big trucks were being used to serve fresh and hygienic meal to the poor and daily wage earners at those areas where the Panahgahs were not present.

He said the trucks were fully equipped with safe cooking appliances to prepare nutritious and quality healthy foods. It had capacity to serve cooked food to 500 persons two times a day, he added.