Free Food/Langar

March 2020

India is still one of the most affected countries by the Coronavirus.  Due to a population of 1.3 billion people, The people who have been hit the hardest were, the daily wage workers, waste pickers and rickshaw and Auto drivers of India.There are an estimated 3 million informal waste pickers in India alone.

Shifting the focus to rural India, work came to a complete stand still for 78% of rural Indians and 68% where facing a financial crisis, according to a survey of 179 districts conducted jointly by the news portal Gaon Connection and the research institute Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), stated that 41% farmers said that they were not able to harvest their crop on time, while 42% were unable to sow on time. Fifty-five percent also reported delays in selling their crop. Therefore, creating no means of income for the foreseeable future for so many families.

Our Response

Divine Onkar Mission immediately initiated help to areas adjacent to all the established projects, in both Jharkhand and Orissa. Food parcels were prepared and distributed weekly to local rural communities and migrant workers. Help was given to waste pickers, by providing food parcels and essential clothing and shoes for the children.

During our food parcel distributions, we noted that many families did not have the fuel or facilities to cook the food we had given them.

The Founder of Divine Onkar Mission, Mr Tersam Lal, put forward the idea of providing a daily free food/Langar to all who going hungry. (The Langar or free kitchen was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji in about 1481. It is designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people of the world regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed, age, gender or social status; to eliminate extreme poverty in the world. In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of Langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind.)

Therefore, in March 2020, we began the free food/langar service daily in the school hall in Ramgarh. Over 300 people are given a nutritious meal consisting of daal rice and a vegetable dish and accompaniments.  

Mirgant works, local daily waged workers on construction sites, waste picker families, local villiagers, as well as anyone who is in need of food. No one is turned away.

To date, Divine Onkar Mission has provided over 219000 Langars twice daily. Local business and wealthy families are donating to cover some part of the cost of this project. Donors from the UK, Canada and America have also donated daily Langars.