Though started as in 2017, the Roti Bank being run in five districts of Haryana proved to be a boon for the needy and hungry during the ongoing second wave of Covid-19.
The bank which was the idea of Additional Director General of Police (Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau), Shrikant Jadav, is now running in Haryana’s five districts was started to control and curb beggary. According to him it was also to instil confidence among the needy and destitute children and also make them feel that they are not alone in this world.
The 1994 batch Indian Police Service officer started this initiative in June 2017 when he was posted as the Inspector General of Police of State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) in Madhuban. It appropriately was in keeping with the motto of “Sewa, Suraksha, Sehyog” (service, protection and cooperation).
Talking to the Express News Service, Jadhav said: "It was not my individual effort. It was a collective effort of Haryana Police personnel from various districts.”
The motto of the Roti Bank
Going back to how it all started he explained, "One day I decided to distribute food to the poor near the SCRB campus where I was posted. Some 40 food packets – all cooked by the staff and their families – were prepared.”
When he visited a nearby brick kiln to distribute the food, he recalled that he was surrounded by dozens of children in dozens, who too were hungry and wanted food. “I had never imagined such a situation.”
On returning Jadhav decided if nothing else at least one meal daily should be given to them. “Thus started the concept of Roti Bank.”
In the beginning, about 50 police personnel joined this initiative to give food at least once a day to the homeless.
“My staff enthusiastically volunteered as we appealed to the families of the police personnel staying on the campus to donate chapattis. We placed collection baskets (tokris) at various points on the campus. The group cooked sabzi and dal and then prepared the packets for distribution. It was about 300 meals per day,” he said.
The good work attracted other offices too, including IAS, IPS and State police officials. With success in Madhuban, the initiative came into being in Kurukshetra then Rewari, Faridabad and Gurugram.
The importance of the bank became evident during the Coronavirus pandemic and restrictions imposed to curb it when the bank’s work was suspended for a few days.
"We received feedback that the poor and the needy were unable to earn their living and had nothing to eat. So, we decided that the ‘bank’ would now not stop even for a day,” said Jadhav.
The bank now runs in the five districts and boasts of around 3,000 members and it distributes more than 2,000 food packets a day. In the district where the roti bank operates, there is an individual bank account with donations being collected, deposited into that account and spent accordingly.
To make people join this good cause, Jadhav shared, "We encourage people to celebrate their or their children’s birthdays by donating.” Now many civilians too have joined the bank lending a helping hand to feed the needy.
With the distribution of food, the bank now also distributes medicines.
