It’s been a daily ritual for Venkataswamy Chittari of late. The sixty-four year old hires an autorickshaw to transport simple yet nutritious meals to the district hospital in Kalaburagi every day at 12 p.m. Not for patients, but for the kith and kin and attendants who accompany patients to the hospital. His wife Srawanthi and assistant Kashinath join him in this altruistic midday meal scheme. Within an hour they have fed more than 250 people.
“Poor people from rural areas bring their patients here. Many of them are too poor to afford hotel food during their stay in the city. It is my small service to fill their bellies. Within one hour, 250-300 people have lunch. The quality of the food is the same as what we have at home,” Mr. Chittari told The Hindu .
Though he has started this on a small scale with his own money, he wants to involve like-minded people to expand the concept to other hospitals and areas where the poor are in need of food. “One of my sons, Anubhav Chittari, who is a medical officer in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, gave me ₹50,000 for my personal expenditure. My younger sister gave another ₹10,000. I’m using this for serving food to the needy. I hope more people join me before my pocket gets empty. Some people have already come forward to sponsor lunch for 250 people a day and others have offered grains and cash,” he said. He has plans to expand the initiative under the banner of Seven Hills Foundation, which is yet to be registered as a charitable trust.
“Many people want to help the poor, but don’t know how. When people like Mr. Chittar begin an effort, they join hands. I’m one among such people,” said Shyam Ghorpade, a restaurant owner who is helping Mr. Chittari.
Mr. Chittari also plans to provide potable drinking water, purified by reverse osmosis and ultraviolet processes to the poor free of cost using the borewell water on land owned by his family.
