Saturday, April 25, 2015

'Operation Sulaimani' to Tackle Poverty in Kozhikode District" : Indian Express

KOZHIKODE:In an initiative to eradicate poverty from the district, the district administration is all set to implement a project named ‘Operation Sulaimani’ to ensure food for the needy in its jurisdiction. According to district collector N Prasanth, the project will be implemented within a week.

 “Though there are many organisations including NGOs and charity bodies ready to upply free food in the districts, there are a  still a section of people struggling to get food. This factor prompted us to think about a project like this,” the collector told ‘Express’.

Operation Sulaimani is being implemented in association with the state Hotel and Restaurants Association. “Following the implementation of the project, the needy will get food free of cost. They will get food from selected restaurants in the district in each locality. Instead of payment, the customers have to give coupons distributed by the district administration. The coupons will be distributed through the counters to be opened in the collectorate, village office and Taluk offices,” Prasanth said.

According to the Collector, with the implementation of the new project, they plan to avoid food wastage in the district.

“It is found that  here is a practice of wasting food in connection with the free food distribution campaigns of certain organisations. A big share of food arranged for such campaigns is often found dumped along with other waste materials. Another sad thing is that the eligible persons often do not get the benefit of this scheme as many who can afford to buy food grab these free packs,’’ he said.

He said that the district administration would maintain a register book to enter the details of people who approach them for the food coupons.

“We will note down the name and address of the people who buys the coupon. We will take necessary steps to avoid the people  who regularly come for free food even though they have  proper income as we are targeting the poor people in the district,” he said

The boozers will  also be kept away from this project, he added.

As per the initial plan, through the  Operation Sulaimani, around 1,000 people will get food per day. “The price of the food will be covered through sponsorship,” the collector said. He also said that the project is named after Sulaimani as the Kozhikode is famous for food and ‘Sulaimani’ is one of such iconic items of the district.

Published: 24th April 2015 06:02 AM
Last Updated: 24th April 2015 06:02 AM
Original article here

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