Jesuits provide food for
Dalit communities in India
 |
| Jesuit volunteers serve food in a village in Bihar, India |
Manthan, a Jesuit apostolate in the Jesuit Province of
Patna, is working to provide food for the poor and the vulnerable, especially
the most disadvantaged among the Dalit communities in India.
By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
A Jesuit apostolate in the Indian State of Bihar is working
in collaboration with a government agency to provide food for thousands of poor
people, especially the most disadvantaged among the Dalit communities during
the imposed coronavirus lockdown period in India.
Manthan, a Jesuit social action center involved in working
with the Dalit or ‘untouchables’ in the Hindu caste system, provided food
parcels to about 5,000 poor people in Patna, the state capital. They also
distributed foodstuff to widows, the elderly and the sick.
People in need
Fr. Juno Sebastian SJ, the director of Manthan, said that
this initiative came about after he was contacted by many people who said that
they had not eaten for days. He immediately got in contact with officials of
the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) who agreed to
support his idea to feed the poor.
“Now we are distributing cooked meals to 1,500 of them
daily, and we will continue until the end of the isolation. We are also working
to help 6,500 Musahar families in Patna, for a total of about 40,000 people,”
Fr. Sebastian said.
The distribution of food takes place in the slums and
villages where the Jesuit Provincial of the Patna Province, Father Donald
Miranda, SJ, said that they have managed to reach 700 other families. It has
also been extended to parts of Uttar Pradesh where about 3,000 families are
also able to be fed daily. The Jesuit College of St. Xavier in Patna is also
involved in distributing food to about 530 families in the area.
Even though the Bihar state government distributes food to
the people free of charge, many Dalits do not have access to it because they
have no documents to prove where they live or their identity.
Coronavirus
On 24 March, the Indian government announced a nationwide
lockdown as part of precautionary measures to stem the spread of the Covid-19
virus. The lockdown has been hard on the poor and the vulnerable especially the
Dalit communities, who are predominantly menial workers in the suburbs of
Patna, the capital of Bihar.
India presently has 18,658 confirmed cases of coronavirus
infections with 592 deaths and 3,273 recovered patients.
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