London: He had a great job in a great company, that came with a fat salary and enhanced status. And he was only 22. The next logical step would have been to get married and have kids while ascending the hierarchy at work and climbing the social ladder. But it was an experience at a wedding function that stimulated the compassionate side of Ankit Kawatra’s personality, driving him to chuck a lucrative corporate career and start a not-for-profit organisation called Feeding India in 2014. The outfit has, till date, served more than 8.5 million meals to the deprived.

 

Kawatra’s work has earned him international recognition and he was conferred with the ‘Queen’s Young Leaders Award’ by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony at the Buckingham Palace on June 29, 2017.

 Feeding India collects food that would have otherwise been wasted, from various donors and offers it to those who cannot afford it or otherwise access it. The beneficiaries are mostly children, the elderly and the differently-abled.

The incident shook Kawatra and he thought of starting an organisation that could help stem the wastage and feed the hungry. His outfit, ‘Feeding India’ started in Greater Kailash, Delhi with a team of five in 2014. Initially, they were featured on a TV game show ‘Deal or No Deal’. They also did an awareness campaign with celebrity chefs called ‘Save my Love’ to spread awareness.

 

Today it has a presence in 43 cities with 4,500 volunteers and has served more than 8.5 million meals to children, women, the elderly and the differently-abled. Kawatra says his mission is to eliminate hunger during his lifetime.

 

Queen’s Young Leaders Award

 

The award marks 60 years of the Queen’s monarchy and six decades of service to Commonwealth nations. Awards were conceived to discover, felicitate and support 60 exceptional young people from across the Commonwealth, aged 18-29, who took the lead in making a lasting difference in their communities and in using their skills to transform the lives of others.

 

Kawatra, who is only 25 years old today, was chosen for his initiatives in feeding the needy. The 60 award winners were chosen from among thousands of nominees across all 53 Commonwealth member countries, and are working in various socially-oriented areas such as climate change, gender equality, youth unemployment, anti-bullying, hunger and education reforms.

 

The award winners also attended a year-long programme of training and mentoring facilitated by the Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge.

 

On his receiving this award, Kawatra said, “Getting this honour from the Queen herself at the Buckingham Palace is a huge honour — something that I could not even dream of. I also believe that this is a landmark for both countries, especially since UK and India have a shared history on so many fronts. A huge salute to each and every one of the 4,500 ‘Feeding India’ volunteers who strive relentlessly to provide food to people in need doing so much for the country and the people.”

Kawatra was a part of a 10-day residential programme consisting of workshops and exercises at the University of Cambridge, prior to his receiving the award. Starting with a team of five volunteers in Delhi, Kawatra’s Feeding India partnered with caterers in the city and started donating the food collected to those who could not afford a decent meal.

 

Says Kawatra: “Poverty is not a new phenomenon. People talk about it at length but very few actually do to address the problem. After seeing so much food getting wasted at the marriage, I thought it was high time to act. I am young now, so I have more vigour. Why should I wait to get old?”

“My family is into business. When I decided to quit my job they were frantic.  Initially I didn’t tell them what I was planning to do. Gradually, I opened up and they accepted my idea. I had no entrepreneurial experience. It was tough for me to convince people. Many would turn the other way when I asked for support, but  gradually things worked out,” Kawatra added.

The journey so far

 ‘Feeding India’ runs several projects aimed at solving the problem of hunger and malnutrition in India and runs a 24/7 refrigerated vehicle that moves around Delhi collecting and donating excess food. The organisation has also adopted many donation centres, self-run schools, and shelter homes for children, senior citizens, and the disabled across different cities, where nutritious and well-balanced meals are provided on daily basis.

Recognition and awards

 Kawatra was also selected as one of the 17 ‘United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals’ in 2016 to raise awareness about the United Nations SDGs among today’s youth. He was also listed as a ‘Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree’ along with actor Alia Bhatt, gymnast Dipa Karmakar and Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik.

 About his experience so far, Kawatra says, “I never thought I would get such appreciation. It is a great accomplishment for me. My mission is to finish hunger and I am just working for it. I want to become the voice that can speak for hunger.”

Of the three basic necessities — food, clothing and shelter — the first is the most significant. It is challenging for anyone to subsist without an adequate amount of food.

 In India, the food problem has a long history dating back to 1937, when Burma was separated from India, Bengal famine in 1943 and in 1947, at the time of partition. The massive problem of hunger and malnutrition in the country is man-made. Globally, more food is available than needed. Despite being one of the fastest developing economies, India has the highest number of famished people in the world.

According to a UN report, 40 percent of all food produced globally — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — goes waste. The amount of food lost or squandered every year is equivalent to more than half the world’s annual output of cereals.

Says Kawatra, “India lacks heavily on food security. There are a lot of initiatives that can be taken but we are not smart enough. If we don’t start early, things will go out of hand. We have a snowballing population. Our hunger record is even worse than that of Bangladesh. There are devils that create food insecurity. Food goes through different levels and a lot is wasted in the process. We need shrewder solutions to combat the problem. People assume Africa has more hungry people, but the reality is that we are even behind them. We are ahead in other fields, but we lag in this.”

Future Plans

Kawatra talks of eliminating hunger and ensuring that the next generation reads about hunger only in history books. “I want that the food problems off the list. When I was in a regular job, I wanted to become a CEO. Now, my purpose in life has completely transformed. I want to live for the people.”

Feeding India aims to serve 100 million meals by 2020. In the coming few months, Kawatra plans to set up sustainable feeding programmes for children in schools and is actively looking to run his mission in all cities of the country in the next 5-10 years.

 

 

(source: Business Standard)