Motivated by the success of the canteen called ‘Didi Ki Rasoi (DKR)’ run by women SHGs popularly known by the name of Jeevika didis along with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) at seven district hospitals of the state, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had informed the authorities to ensure that all canteens in the remaining districts should all be handed over to them.
The expansion of Didi Ki Rasoi is seen as one more step towards women’s empowerment by the Bihar government, one of the main polls promises by the NDA. The project was initially started at Vaishali district hospital and later extended to Gaya, Purnia, Buxar, Sheohar, Sheikhpura, and Saharsa. “In November 2020, the RBI signed an agreement with DKR and today 10 didis are providing food to 50 RBI employees daily,” said secretary of rural development department Balamurugan D.
The DKR chain of community-based canteens is very well managed by the empowered rural women who also happen to be the members of the self- help groups (SHGs) of JEEViKA (or Bihar State Rural Livelihoods Mission). Arvin Kumar Chaudhary, principal secretary of the department said Providing quality and hygienic food to a large number of patients of district hospitals had been a challenge for government. DKR is providing solution for the Challenge. Bihar state is currently spending at least Rs 130 per patient per day on food in accordance with rates. As per the government order this amount is directly routed to women SHGs through BRLPS, which is a state government initiative. The SHSB has already been directed to make space available at the concerned facilities for the canteen. The state of Bihar currently has 8.25 lakh SHGs which cover 94.85 lakh households.
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