For well over 3 years, Una trust banishing hunger with langar

Rajesh Sharma

Una, February 17

The “Guru Ka Langar Sewa Samiti Trust” has been serving the humanity and the needy for the last three-and-a-half years, including during the Covid pandemic when it provided more than five lakh packets of food to frontline workers, stranded people and those in quarantine.

Ashwani Jaitak, a prominent businessman of Una, who is the president of the trust, said a group of like-minded persons are devotees of the Mahadev Temple in Ajnoli village near Una city. On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi September 2, 2019, they decided to cook food and serve it among patients and attendants at the Una district hospital since people came here for treatment from remote corners of the district.

Jaitak said they brought cooked food to the hospital where the authorities allowed them to set up a “langar” (community kitchen) at a covered place under the wheelchair ramp.

“Ever since, the langar has continued all 365 days a year,” he said, adding that gradually, locals began appreciating the good work and started chipping in with money or food items.

Jaitak said they had regular donors today, besides those who celebrate occasions like birthdays, marriage anniversaries and religious occasions. He said there were many who helped with cash or kind to observe the death anniversary of their loved ones.

He said many people from Una, who live abroad, also regular donated to the Trust. He said, “Every day, 180 kg of vegetables and pulses, 50 kg of rice and 60 kg of wheat flour is used to cook food to serve at least 900 people at the hospital.”

Dinesh Gupta, the vice-president of the Trust, said in April 2020, when the pandemic struck, normal life was paralysed, but the Guru ka langar continued with the social distancing norms being strictly observed. He said at least five lakh food packets were distributed among frontline workers, those quarantined or stranded at different locations in the district. He said food packets were prepared at the temple and despatched to hospitals, police stations, police lines, tehsil offices and quarantine centres.

Gupta said during Covid, train services remained suspended for a very long time and when the first train carrying 1,400 passengers from Delhi reached Una, they were handed food packets at the railway station, where buses were waiting to transport them to different locations. Besides, he said, around 800 households of migrant workers were given dry ration free of cost for many months.

Rajiv Bhanot, the general secretary of the Trust, said, “Whenever an Army recruitment rally is organised in Una, the Trust provides langar three times a day for the aspirants who come from all over the state.” He said their organisation had contributed money, ration, sweets, vegetables and cooking oil in around 150 marriages of girls belonging to poor families, depending on their requirement.

Bhanot said the organisation has also had provided Rs 10 lakh for the education of girls so far. He said there was complete transparency in the management of funds. He said the organisation was now preparing to organise similar langars regularly at other hospitals in the district. He said they were working on an agreement to participate in the ongoing langar being held at PGI-Chandigarh.