ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan plans to expand the ‘Ehsaas Koi Bhooka Na Soye’ initiative to three more cities – Multan, Gujranwala and Lahore, with an aim to eliminate hunger from the country.
The initiative is about distributing cooked meals at designated delivery points to people in need, especially labourers, daily wage earners, women and children who cannot access the Ehsaas Langar sites in industrial zones and bus stations.
The prime minister, at an event to be held at PM House, will launch four food trucks that will serve free food to daily wage earners across Multan, Gujranwala and Lahore.
Special Assistant to PM on Social Welfare Senator Dr Sania Nishtar and Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal Managing Director Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar will brief the prime minister on the expansion plan of the free food service.
At least 12 truck kitchens are already running in five cities. With an addition of four trucks under the expansion plan, the total number of vehicles will increase to 16.
By October, the Ehsaas Koi Bhooka Na Soye (EKBNS) operations will be expanded to all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan with an overall fleet of 40 food trucks in 29 cities that will feed 40,000 people everyday and 1.46 million people annually.
Under the EKBNS programme, the distribution of free food helps the poor save their hard-earned money for their families. Each truck feeds 1,000-1,500 people daily on specified service points, twice a day and seven days a week.
Designed to serve healthy meals, the EKBNS truck kitchens are well-equipped with safe cooking appliances. The meals are cooked, stored and served from a truck kitchen. To date, 831,625 meals have been served across Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Islamabad.
