Shivakumar, A School Dropout Who Feeds Thousands Of Poor

[JANASENA]

 

RB Shivkumar, a 41-year-old leaf merchant in Rajajinagar, Bangalore has become a ray of hope for the needy people in his city. He collects the leftover food from social gatherings, conventional halls in nearby areas, and distributes it amongst the poor people. In this manner, food is saved from wastage.

His journey started 16 years back when he was surprised to see the alarming rate at which food that was wasted every time a gathering was hosted. After pouring much thought to it he decided to lead the change.

It has not been a child’s play as there were emerging concerns regarding the food that might turn stale or unfit to be consumed if kept for long. For this reason, Shivkumar tasted the food first before distributing it to the people in need.

Food wastage in Bengaluru
The 2011 survey report by the University of Agricultural Sciences says that food worth 400 crore rupees are wasted every year in social gatherings in Bengaluru.

Shivkumar has tied up with almost 100 marriage halls in the city. Putting the food in large containers, it reaches around 20,000 people through his vehicle dedicated for this service. He received around 120 calls on the eve of Akshay Tritya and collected food from almost 40 halls and went ahead to feed 28,000 slum dwellers.

Shivkumar’s father is proud of this service which Shivkumar does for the society and he further adds, “I also distribute the leftover food at old-age homes and orphanages. I collect the leftover food from at least 10 marriage halls everyday during the marriage season.”

According to a report by The New Indian Express, Shivkumar finds it unfair to waste food when many still crave for a single meal in a day.
However, he is always ready to assist the ones’ who want to join this service. His good deeds do not end just here as he also supplies fresh drinking water at over 80 bus stands. In addition, to that, he has also built 20 built shelters.

He says, “I have asked my employees to plant two saplings a day and to water them daily. The forest department has assured me that they would supply 1,000 saplings,” he said in a report published in The New Indian Express.

The owner of Chikkamma Ramaiah Kalyana Mantapa, a Mantapa from where Shivkumar picks up food is satisfied that the food doesn’t get wasted anymore and reaches the hungry people.

Shivkumar’s deeds don’t just end here, as he also sponsors 10 school children every year, distributes textbooks and notebooks among government schools, lends bus passes to the lower income families and textbooks to their children all free of cost. It is inevitable that such exceptional work would go unnoticed and going by that Shivkumar also received a donation from a woman who noticed him on the rounds while he was busy working for the people.

[erragulabi]

Gp