The tears wouldn’t stop rolling down Ballu Yadav’s face. It had been more than 12 hours since the 60-year-old security guard in Gujarat’s Surat had eaten—and every mouthful of the simple dal chawal served at a community kitchen made him emotional.
“Since yesterday evening, I had just had a pack of biscuits dipped in a cup of water. My wife borrowed a little food for herself from the neighbours and ate,” said Ballu, who is employed as a guard at the Radhey Radhey Silk Mills in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) at Pandesara, on Thursday.
Ballu, from Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh, is among the 22 lakh-odd migrant workers who have built their livelihoods in Surat’s booming textile industry. But the war in West Asia and the resulting disruption in LPG supplies have choked the flow of raw materials, hitting Surat’s textile industry hard. The result: At least 40 per cent of the migrant workers in the city have left, finding it difficult to survive without regular pay and cooking gas.
Hit by the LPG crisis, Ballu Yadav from UP and Shashi Yadav from Bihar are among the thousands of migrant workers who come to the community kitchen for lunch. (Kamal Saiyed)
It is to cater to workers like Ballu that, around 20 days ago, a group of men from different districts of Uttar Pradesh who have made Surat their home decided to start a community kitchen and serve freshly prepared lunch for labourers at the Pandesara GIDC.
The move has brought relief to hundreds like Ballu. Like Shashi Bhushan Yadav, 30, who works as a fabric folding machine operator in a mill in the Pandesara area. Shashi works on 12-hour shifts and used to earn Rs 20,000 a month. After his mill began a two-day shutdown in the week, and cancelled night shifts in the aftermath of the West Asia war, his salary is now down to Rs 12,000.
“Purane din wapas aa gaye (The old days are back),” says Shashi, who hails from Bihar, referring to his quarters where his mother and sister have switched to cooking on wood stoves.
“In this 21st century, my mother and sister are preparing food with wooden logs at home on a clay stove. My salary is not enough to cover rent, power bills, and daily expenses. My mother is a widow, and she stays at home with my sister. I am the sole breadwinner in the family,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
“My mother knows how to cook food on a wood stove, as she has done it at our native place when she was younger. But here, she has to cook outside, as the smoke fills our quarters, which has no ventilation. Also, due to the rise in the demand for wooden logs, the shop owners also raised their prices,” he added.
The plight of workers like Ballu and Shashi has not gone unnoticed by the government. On Thursday, the state government released over 98,000 5 kg LPG cylinders for industrial labourers, the most issued to Surat.
The Pandesara community kitchen also received help from unexpected quarters. Police Inspector K D Jadeja reached out and donated 10 gunny bags of rice and 3 bags of dal to the service staff to feed textile labourers.
The food is ready by noon, and is served between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm daily. Around 10 tables are arranged under a shamiana and over 15 volunteers serve the meal in disposable plates. (Kamal Saiyed)
‘They give us their blessings’
Bhagwati Prasad Dubey, a supplier of imported coal to the dyeing and printing units; labour contractor Akhilesh Tiwari; Ajay Singh, a manager at a dyeing and printing mill; Omprakash Jha, Jimmy Jain, Sitaram Sharda, and a few others are instrumental in beginning the community kitchen.
Story continues below this ad
Rice and dal—donated by several people—are cooked for around 2,000 textile labourers. Beginning at 8 am, the simple meal is prepared by two people, using wooden logs and a temporary stove. The food is ready by noon, and is served between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm daily. Around 10 tables are arranged under a shamiana, where the cooked food is placed in huge utensils, and over 15 volunteers serve the meal in disposable plates.
Tiwari explained the thought behind the initiative. “All of us are associated with the textile dyeing and printing industry, and we know how it feels for a person to go on an empty stomach,” he said. “A majority of the labourers who get food for free from our centre give us their blessings. Many people stop by, give us donations, and request that we continue the services,” he added, pointing out that the Southern Gujarat Textile Processing Association also has a community kitchen, but they charge Rs 40 per dish.
Giving details about the financing, Dubey said, “We do a lot of social work. In the beginning, we contributed from our side. Later, we sought donations from friends and others. Every day, over 150 kg of rice and 30 kg of dal are cooked and distributed. We contacted over 25 dyeing and printing mills in Pandesara, seeking contributions. Of these, only three mills supported us. We are hoping to continue it till the situation turns normal and the smooth supply of LPG cylinders resumes.”
Pandesara Police Inspector K D Jadeja also appreciated their efforts. “We have come to be a part of this pious work. We donated 10 gunny bags of rice and 3 gunny bags of dal. The food is served on the roadside, yet there is no law and order or traffic problem,” he said.
Hit by the LPG crisis, Ballu Yadav from UP and Shashi Yadav from Bihar are among the thousands of migrant workers who come to the community kitchen for lunch. (Kamal Saiyed)
The food is ready by noon, and is served between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm daily. Around 10 tables are arranged under a shamiana and over 15 volunteers serve the meal in disposable plates. (Kamal Saiyed)