It’s one o’clock in the afternoon and Chippa workers are busy serving naans to the scores of people lining up for their daily meal. One of them is Zainul Abideen who eats regularly at the Chippa Dastarkhwan located at Numaish roundabout. Once he has finished his food he tells us that he sells car ornaments at the traffic signal and earns barely a couple of hundred rupees daily. Thanks to this dastarkhwan, he can be sure of at least one square meal a day.

A number of such free food services available around the city have become a lifeline for hundreds of people like Zianul Abideen. Here they are served a full meal with grace and dignity, without having to beg or feel under obligation. These organisations include Saylani Welfare Trust, Chippa Foundation, Khana Ghar (a meal for just Rs3), Bahria Foundation and many others.

Food shortage and hunger is a grim reality of the developing world. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the inflation rate in Pakistan was recorded at 7.40pc in Feb, 2013. The impact of this on the food and beverages category is devastating for the common man as the price of monthly groceries soars. Even items that were once considered a poor man’s staple like vegetables and lentils have become expensive while meat and fish are almost unaffordable.

The pity is that there is plenty of food — the problem is income disparity and logistics. A huge amount of food is wasted due to lack of adequate transportation. In this scenario, such charity organisations work like a bridge between the affluent and the needy; instead of just giving money, they have taken the time and effort to provide the most basic necessity in an accessible manner. These organisations run on systematic lines and many of them operate several branches. The branch manager of Saylani Welfare trust, Yaseen, claims that more than 600 people, including the elderly and the physically handicapped from the disadvantaged and labour class benefit from their centres every day. “Around 50,000 people are being served at the 74 Saylani centres in Karachi in two shifts. About five to six people are designated to serve the food. At night, many people bring their entire family to eat here,” he says.

While Chippa ka Dastarkhawn is a relatively new entrant in the field, Parveen Saeed of Khana Ghar has been proving a ‘three-rupee-meal’ to the people of Khuda ki Basti in Karachi for over a decade; according to her figures, at least 2000 people eat from her kitchen every day.

Regarding the funding, Yaseen explained, “About 30 millions rupees are spent every month. Funding is obtained from a number of generous donors; in fact, we are constantly being contacted by people who wish to help out. All the people who donate receive detailed notes and records of their donations. We want to ensure that every rupee is accounted for.” Like Saylani, Saeed also relies on the generosity of the public, and though funds sometimes run short, they never dry up.

Pakistan takes pride in being one of the most charitable nations in the world and the existence of all these ‘kitchens’ proves this fact. Perhaps one day we will also be counted as a nation where every person can earn a square meal as their right, without having to rely on charity; until then organisations like Saylani, Chippa and Khana Ghar will have to fill the gap.