BAHRIA DASTARKHAWAN – WHERE EVERYONE CAN EAT FOR FREE

• It is said that every person is born with a certain amount of courage and a philanthropic spirit. While for some of us, seeing a generous opportunity awakens our innate philanthropy, for others, it is an overpowering impulse that drives them to devote their lives to a cause. We need to learn about the Bahria Dastarkhawan programme because it can really resonate with us.

• The main goal of Bahria Dastarkhawan, a humanitarian initiative run by Bahria Town, is to provide food for the less fortunate members of society without regard to race, gender, or faith. There are 12 locations of Bahria Dastarkhawan Lahore in Lahore alone, and it offers complimentary meals. It is in use in several Pakistani cities, including Multan, Peshawar, and Faisalabad, among others. Malik Riaz, Chairman of Bahria Town, provides all finance for the Bahria Dastarkhawan and it does not rely on outside support from any national or international organisations.

WHAT IT PROVIDES

• Free meals are offered twice a day by the Dastarkhawan; in the morning it is open from 11 am to 2 pm, and in the evening it is open from 6 pm to 9 pm. On weekdays, there will be aloo gosht and daal gosht, and on weekends, there will be daal chawal. Except for Eid, the platform operates year-round and feeds whole families.

• To put it mildly, the initiative’s scope is astounding. It takes about 42 000 people each month to feed the average of 1400 to 1500 people everyday. The manager emphasised that food quality is their first concern and that any questionable food items are rejected by the selection authority.

• Explaining the vision of the project he elaborated that Bahria Dastarkhawan wants to provide food while treating every visitor with dignity. Integrity of one is the rudimentary principles for the employees.

• Malik Riaz is happy and proud to be able to help the country improve economically and socially while also reducing millions of people’s hunger. “This is the project I value the most. Alhamdulillah, we provide complimentary meals twice a day to more than 35000 individuals every day. Insha Allah, we’ll be adding additional Dastarkhawan in addition to the 10 that are now open. I give God Almighty thanks for giving me the privilege of being able to help others.

• It is untenable for the government to only work on social welfare initiatives in nations like Pakistan, where 60 million people live in poverty. Our culture is plagued by the deep shadows of poverty, and social conflict between the wealthy elite and the disadvantaged class is escalating quickly. Malik Riaz has provided an example under these conditions for others to follow and build socially conscious and long-lasting projects to lessen economic imbalance. His vision of shared wealth has impacted people’s lives and minds.