This Pune Auto Driver Is Using Rs 2 Lakh Saved For His Wedding To Feed Hungry Migrant Workers

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown which followed triggered an unprecedented crisis in the country. And the worst affected are those who lived hand-to-mouth, for whom the lockdown meant starvations and even death.

The lockdown also has brought out some of the best in humanity, especially from ordinary men and women who went out of their ways to make lives better for others.

Akshay Kothawale, a resident of Pune, Maharashtra is one of them. If COVID-19 had not happened, the 30-year-old auto driver would have got married on May 25, and he had saved some Rs 2 lakhs for his big day.

PTI

But after the country went into lockdown, Kothawale postponed the ceremonies and is using the money that he had saved to help others.

¡°There was no point in going ahead with the ceremony during the pandemic with limited family members. Therefore, my fiance and I decided to postpone the event,¡± he told Pune Mirror.

With the help of his friends, Kothawale is using the money he saved for his wedding to prepare home cooked food for nearly 400 people every day. They then go around the city streets and distribute the food among migrant labourers and the poor.

¡°Though we are losing income due to the lockdown, we still have some money to survive. However, there are some people who cannot even make arrangements for one meal as they are penniless. Therefore, I thought, if we share some of the burden of these people, no one will die of hunger,¡± Kothawale said.

PTI

¡°We then set up a kitchen and started preparing chapatis and sabzi. Using my auto, we distribute meals among people at Maldhakka Chowk near the railway station, Sangamwadi and Yerawada areas once a day,¡± he added.

¡°For the last one month, Kothawale has been giving us food regularly, without a gap of even a day. The quality of the food is also quite good, which we had never expected,¡± Muralidhar Khade, one of the labourers said.

Kothawale is not just stopping at that but also helping senior citizens and pregnant women by offering them free rides to clinics in his vehicle, and also going around the city creating awareness on how to stay protected against the coronavirus.

BCCL/Representational Image

While Kothawale and his friends are running out of money, he says they plan to continue feeding the hungry and poor at least till May 31.

Pune is one of the hardest-hit cities in India due to COVID-19 and has recorded 4,071 positive cases so far.