CM Uddhav Thackeray Cheers Him On!
Nagpur’s good Samaritan, Khushroo Poacha, a Superintendent with the Central Railway (CR)’s Commercial Department (Nagpur), has hit upon a successful strategy to feed thousands of poor and needy, especially during these challenging times – but without taking help from NGOs, donations, or even opening a bank account! Making the Community proud and setting the precedent for all with his Parsi sense of charity, Poacha uses his goodwill as well as his personal and professional contacts through social media, to collect food and aid from kind persons all over the world.
During the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, he has single-handedly managed to collect food and aid materials worth over Rs. 4 million, which has benefitted over 6,000 families, in addition to two tonnes of rice which has been instrumental in feeding over 60,000 destitute people. When industrialists, corporate houses, celebs, businessmen and the wealthy are jostling to donate staggering sums of money, Poacha proved that he also ”cares” – without an NGO, donations or a fat bank account.
The news of his good work made such a strong impact that on the 7th of April, 2020, he received a call from the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, himself, commending him for his charitable activities done without donation of a single rupee!
“Thackeray Saab sounded quite puzzled how I managed all this without financial aid, but expressed his happiness that a citizen from Maharashtra was doing it. I felt honoured when he not only offered all help from the government, but suggested I should assist the administration’s ongoing efforts,” Poacha told IANS, the news agency which first broke the story.
Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission President, Kishore Tiwari, was all praises for Poacha who had immediately responded to his SOS on 5th April, 2020, by despatching a truckload of dry-food rations for nearly 550 farmers’ widows and their families for the next ten days.
For the ongoing pandemic relief work, Poacha deploys help requests through a series of WhatsApp groups, and his websites, www.sevakitchen.org and www.indianblooddonors.com and Apps, which in turn are supported by www.donatekart.com which assists him to source all his needs.
All requests go through donatekart.com and donors make their contributions, which are routed to Poacha’s supplier from where he picks up the requisite help-material. There is no monetary involvement at any stage.
“We have set up 21 Seva Kitchens in India, mostly at cancer or children’s hospitals or schools where people can get good, nutritious food, absolutely free. Besides, we have installed ‘Neki Ka Pitara’ (Fridge of Kindness) at these locations for the poor and needy,” Poacha said.
The Seva Kitchens, each serving around 3,000 meals a day, and ‘Neki Ka Pitaras’ are functional in Nagpur (9), Hyderabad (4), and one each in Bengaluru, Palwal (Haryana), Sawantwadi, Thane and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra.
He mentions with pride a Seva Kitchen in Guldasta School, Sarita Vihar of New Delhi, manned by an 80-year-young, sprightly Vimla Kaul! “My volunteers, a dedicated band of around a thousand good people, maintain an uninterrupted flow of supplies to the needy, irrespective of the region, caste or religion,” he shares.
“Most importantly, it remains anonymous both ways – we don’t know who is a beneficiary and they don’t know about the benevolent,” says Poacha, who roughed it out in life from the age of sixteen, when he lost his father, but became the family breadwinner by joining Indian Railways.
Almost 20 years ago, he pioneered India’s list of blood donors through his website and has been instrumental in saving hundreds of thousands of lives since. During the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, when there was blood shortage for the victims, he called up a private TV channel and requested them to run his website name www.indianblooddonors.com on their ticker. “It got a massive response, and we were covered by BBC World a few months later,” he says with pride.
Poacha, 52, who lives with wife Fermin and their 7-year daughter – Tunisha, is linked with major social groups and organisations, like the Sant Nirankari Seva Dal, which silently work, without bothering about any publicity or photo-ops to help the needy.
At the height of the lockdown, his dedicated band of volunteers reach every nook and corner with food packets, cooked meals or replenishments for the ‘Neki Ka Pitara’, round-the-clock. Incidentally, each Fridge of Kindness is supported by one WhatsApp Group linked with donors who ensure it remains full 24×7 with ready consumables like milk, juices, fruits, dry fruits – coming up to approximately Rs. 10,000 daily. “It opens twice/thrice daily, people pick whatever they need, when it goes empty, our local contact posts a picture of the fridge, and within minutes, a donor chips in and magically, it gets refilled before the next opening time,” he shares.
Khushroo Poacha’s kindness gene has started to show in his daughter, Tunisha. She made a beginning this year by donating a whopping 5,000 schoolbags to children who suffered in last year’s devastating floods, across parts of Maharashtra, appropriately labelling them – ‘Bags of Kindness’!
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[Courtesy: IANS - Quaid Najmi]
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