A massive project in the planning for the last five months, to deliver 3,750 tons of food to the poorest people in Kolkata began last week, coordinated by Calcutta Rescue.
Project Arpan, a Citibank social initiative in collaboration with Give India, was formulated to address the issue of food insecurity across communities in the country. Calcutta Rescue, in association with GiveIndia’s implementing partner, will enable the provision of dry food rations to 75,000 households from low-income communities in Kolkata. This will benefit over 300,000 individuals residing in 50 of the city’s most impoverished locations.
Calcutta Rescue has 40 years of experience delivering high-quality, low-cost, programmes in the slums of Kolkata. Because CR is a relatively small NGO and is already running so many projects, including its own Covid feeding programme for 20,000 people, it was initially reluctant to take on coordinating the whole project in Kolkata. But CR’s chief executive, Jaydeep Chakraborty, managed to recruit a range of delivery partners, including Jungle Crows, an NGO that works closely with CR, and which will deliver the project in the slums where CR does not work.
It took several months to devise the delivery system, arrange transport and warehouses, and register all 75,000 households who will benefit from the scheme to ensure the right amount of food goes to the right people.
Senior students from CR schools were trained to collect the necessary data on a digital app and then were paid to go into the slums to speak to each household. The arrival of Omicron at the start of the year led to a postponement of the start meant new delivery methods had to be devised that was safe during a time of high Covid infections.
Jaydeep explained that it had been frustrating that distribution of the foodgrains didn’t start after the new year as planned – and changing the process was complicated but it has been worth the wait for beneficiaries – with each household receiving 50kg of food – enough to feed a family of five for eight weeks.
He said: “I am relieved and delighted that we are now in the execution phase of Project Arpan. The project will temporarily alleviate issues around food insecurity and malnutrition caused due to loss in livelihood, and free up the limited family income earned, for other essentials. I am also very satisfied that we are harnessing digital tools to improve transparency and drive efficiency in program delivery.”
