Hundreds of dabbawalas delivering lunches to Mumbaikars will suspend their services from Friday till the end of the month owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The dabbawalas will also be foregoing their annual five-day leave to compensate for the suspension of services.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, Ulhas Muke and Ramdas Karwande, who head the two major dabbawala associations, said the decision was in keeping with the State government’s instructions to suspend services across sectors. Between them, the two associations — Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust and Mumbai Food Tiffin Supply Service — deliver lunchboxes to close to two lakh Mumbaikars on a daily basis.
“Tiffin services will be unavailable from March 20 to March 31, and will resume as per usual routine from April 1. We appeal to everyone to avoid stepping out and to not believe in rumours,” the statement said.
Mr. Muke, president of the Nutan Charity Trust, said, “Individual efforts go a long way in contributing to collective public welfare and we are only doing what we can. Based on the situation by the end of March, we will decide whether or not to resume on April 1.”
He said, “We take a five to six day holiday every April to visit our homeowns. To make up for the suspension of service, we have decided to not take that leave. None of us will visit our hometowns this year.”
