From farm to doorsteps

Voluntary organisation Swapno Chaka has taken an initiative to deliver food among middle-income families for free, who cannot publicly seek support over the financial crisis following the coronavirus outbreak.

But more importantly, the organisation is buying the food items, which include a variety of vegetables, directly from farmers to help them sustain during the crisis period.

The organisation delivers essentials like rice, lentil, potato and oil among 100 families in different areas of Dhaka between 10am and 4pm daily.

"We have two hotline numbers -- 01766622202 and 01766622204. Once someone seeks support from us by calling these two numbers, we send the food items through our eight riders," KM Abul Hasnat, founder of Swapno Chaka, told The Daily Star.

Hasnat said the service was primarily introduced in Gulshan in support of the Gulshan Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, but people from all over Dhaka are now calling for support.

Sudip Chakraborty, deputy commissioner of Gulshan Division Police, said, "We are trying our best to come up with innovative ideas with the help of different volunteer groups to provide support to city dwellers so that they can stay home safely."

Asked about helping the middle class, Hasnat said, "We have decided to provide assistance to the middle-income families, who often hesitate to come out to the streets to seek support."

Regarding financial support, Hasnat said they have a club called "Ninety Six-Ninety Eight", which now has 800 members. "We have collected funds from our friends and are using that to support the families in need."

SUPPORT FOR FARMERS

Meanwhile, the organisation has also decided to extend its support for the root-level farmers who are not getting proper prices for their vegetables during this crisis period.

Swapno Chaka started buying vegetables directly from the field and they would distribute three kilogrammes of vegetables for free along with rice and lentil to the needy families in Dhaka from today (April 20), said members.

"The farmers are forced to sell their vegetables like tomato, cucumber and bottle gourd for Tk 1 per kg. Many are even unable to sell any," said Razib Al Masud, a member of Swapno Chaka. "We have selected a union in Dinajpur district to collect the vegetables. Through this process, we will be able to help farmers and the needy people," said Razib, also the deputy commissioner of Detective Branch of DMP.

Apart from distributing vegetables, the organisation plans to sell a portion of it to members of the club and friends so that they can cover the expenses, added Razib.

"We have already bought 10 tonnes of vegetables and we would distribute five tonnes of it for free among the needy families and we would sell and deliver the rest after making 20kg packages each," said Hasnat, the founder.

The price for a 20kg fresh vegetable package will be Tk 400, which will include tomato, egg plant, cucumber, pumpkin, bottle gourds, bitter melon and green chili, he added.

Like this organisation, a volunteer group called -- Moghbazar -- is also working to support the middle class families. "They collect information of needy families, especially the middle income group, and then inform the local police to arrange support for them," said Hafiz Al Faruk, additional deputy commissioner of Tejgaon Division police.

An admin of the Facebook page Moghbazar, Arafat Hossain Sifat said they have given a list of 25 volunteers in their area, who will help police in this crisis period.

Right now, volunteers of the page are working as bridges between donors and seekers, he added.