‘No Child Should Sleep on Empty Stomach’: One Man Has Served Free Food to 1 Mn People

Always keen to do social work, Nilay Agarwal kept postponing his plans. But in September 2018, when he lost a close friend in an unfortunate accident, he realised the unpredictability of life. So, he started an organisation to help the poor in his friend’s name called Vishalakshi Foundation.

While doing research, he found that in India, 7,000 people die of hunger every day. Out of these 7,000 people, around 3,000 are children. “Nobody is talking about it. No child deserves to sleep on an empty stomach. No child deserves to be deprived of their basic right to live a healthy and memorable childhood,” he says.

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Since then, Nilay is on a mission to make India starvation free.

On his birthday, he walked 30 km on an empty stomach in the scorching heat of Delhi to feed the hungry people on the streets. This was called Global Roti Day. It was observed in New Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Pulwama, and Simdega. Over 1,500 youngsters joined this initiative and fed more than 10,000 people in a single day.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Nilay and his team distributed over 45,000 packets of ration items to underprivileged families. So far, he has served free food to over 1 million people.

“Never think that you are less than anyone. There are a lot of people who dream of something that you already have. So, definitely, you have a lot to contribute. Go ahead, do not hesitate,” he says.

Watch his inspirational journey in this video:

Edited by Pranita Bhat