Madni Dastarkhawans to provide free meals

Govt will provide food with the help of philanthropists

LAHORE: To cater the needs of the deprived and the less privileged people in society, the government has decided to establish permanent Madni Free Dastarkhawans (communal meals) in the provincial capital.



Earlier, the Punjab government established these free dastarkhawans during Ramazan. In a meeting held on Tuesday, Lahore Division Commissioner Abdullah Khan Sumba directed departments concerned to make it a permanent feature of the city, even if it was not Ramazan. He underscored that Lahore has become second most populous city with swelling population of over 12 million people which implied that number of havenots have also increased.

He said 35 permanent Madni Dastarkhawans were not enough in the second largest city of the country. He asked all assistant commissioners to hold meetings in their respective areas with donors and philanthropists for provision of communal meals to serve the poor throughout the year.

Pakistan's food insecurity

Sumbal appreciated Sailani Welfare Trust for running such dastarkhawans in a good manner and urged the trust to establish more dastarkhawns. He assured the trust’s management all-out support in this noble mission. He said the administration was ready to provide proper place for ‘Roti Bank’ to Sailani Trust for free provision of packed whole meal to the needy families who avoid sitting and eating in public places.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2017.