GUNTUR: For the first time, Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) will set up food banks where food will be supplied free of cost to the needy. These food banks will be set up in five areas of the city.
The objective is to reduce wastage of food and provide it to someone who is in need of it. In this regard, the corporation officials will reach out to hotel managements and catering services in Guntur and ask them to supply the leftover food at functions and events to the food banks instead of throwing it.
The GMC has decided to set up the food banks at the APSRTC bus terminal, Guntur Railway Station, Guntur GGH, Gandhi Park and the Lodge Centre.
Mayor Kavati Manohar Naidu told TNIE that five refrigerators each with a capacity of 1,000 litres are being imported for the food banks. A shed is also being set up at all food banks where the refrigerators will be kept and also clothes donated to help the poor.
A GMC employee will be appointed to store the food bought by the hotels and caterers in the refrigerators and to serve it free of cost to the needy. Two slots will be available in the food banks—for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare, the Mayor said.
“We are making all arrangements and the food banks will be ready soon. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has appreciated the initiative. We only hope that catering services, hotel management, and the people come forward and support this initiative.”