HYDERABAD: Soon government hospitals in the Greater Hyderabad area will have ‘Feed the Need’ centres in them. The programme is part of the GHMC’s urban community development plan that aims to create an integrated centre for poor patients where both food and shelter will be provided to them.
As part of the initiative, a refrigerator was installed near NIMS hospital in Punjagutta, for the benefit of underprivileged patients and their kin by ensuring that excess food is not wasted. It was inaugurated by film producer Dagubati Suresh.
The ‘Feed the Need’ program was launched in February this year at Madhapur and Shilparamam. Fridges were to be installed at the busy locations in the city. People from across the city can participate in the initiative by contributing excess food not required by them so that it can, in turn, be used for those in need. As per the plan, the fridges will be managed by an NGO that would ensure stale food doesn’t come into the system. The fridges will have both vegetarian and non-vegetarian compartments.
“As part of the first phase, we have planned to install fridges in 10 places. The fridge at NIMS is a part of that. We are also focusing on installing them near government hospitals which see a lot of footfall,” said Harichandana Dasari, GHMC Zonal Commissioner for West Zone.
There are also plans to expand the programme to around 100 locations across all zones for the benefit of people. “We have found that food being kept in the fridges are being used by not only the underprivileged, but also by students and cab drivers,” added Harichandana.
Officials said the next hospital to have a fridge in its vicinity will be Niloufer Hospital which is frequented by patients from across the State, mainly for neo-natal care. Presently, fridges have been set up near Shilparamam in Madhapur and Chiranjeevi Blood Bank in Jubilee Hills.