Too many cooks spoiling this broth

The work of distributing cooked food may be noble, but its execution isn’t exactly honest.

SUKKUR: They throw the unwashed meat by the bucketful into the degs, crusted and nasty from earlier cooking. In go the spices, oil and water. Out comes the Qorma.

“The flood survivors are strong enough to eat this and still survive,” said a cook, laughing. He swats away a swarm of flies. “Nothing will happen.”

Welcome to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) kitchens in Sukkur, easily the most visible among the numerous bodies - including the provincial government, the district administration, NGOs and trade bodies - working to provide cooked food to floor survivors.

Although many people are seen cooking food at various places across the city, the PPP has the largest arrangement. The ruling party set up two kitchens, one at the Jinnah Municipal Stadium and another at the Mehran Cultural Centre, where food is cooked and then distributed among close to 100,000 flood survivors living in relief camps and on the roadsides.

“We used to cook 1,000 degs of Qorma daily in both kitchens,” PPP Sukkur chapter secretary general Dr Arshad Mughal told The Express Tribune. “We are also purchasing naans from hotels across Sukkur and Rohri.” According to Mughal, the number of naans purchased everyday is 100,000. “We are working according to a system,” he said. “We start cooking at 9 am and start delivering food to various relief camps after noon.”

Mughal maintained that the quantity of food sent to the camps is in accordance with the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) at each camp. “We send food according to their requirement twice a day. In the afternoon we serve them Qorma and naan and in the evening we give them chicken biryani,” said Mughal. “When we started this kitchen, we faced a shortage of degs, after which we contacted Rajput catering in Karachi. They have brought 500 degs with them and are cooking here.”

When questioned about the methods of transparency in food distribution, Mughal said, “We hand over a certain number of degs and naans to office bearers at various union councils. The food is distributed under their supervision and therefore nothing goes wrong.”

An insider, who was unhappy with what was going on in the kitchen, told The Express Tribune however, that there was “large-scale mismanagement” in the kitchens. “Only 500 degs of Qorma are cooked here and the local office bearers are corrupt. They are given five degs for each relief camp, out of which they distribute one deg among their own relatives and friends,” he said. Meanwhile, not more than 65,000 naans are purchased on a daily basis, he added. “Though corruption is no longer thought of as an offence in this country, one should fear God while doing a noble job,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2010.