“The war against hunger is truly mankind’s war of liberation”– John F. Kennedy.
Quintessentially when you hear the rumbling noises made by your stomach, the instantaneous reflex action produced by your relay neurons is to advance towards the kitchen and dig into the delicious meals stocked in the fridge. But to satiate one’s hunger is not an entitlement enjoyed by all.
One in every eight people in India sleeps hungry each night, and every fifteen seconds, a child dies from hunger. To have food surplus is a privilege many of us do not comprehend that so many others are without.
Neel Ghose was working and living in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where he discovered a unique model of a volunteer-based organisation ReFood. The volunteers there would collect excess and unused food from the restaurants and distribute it to the needy. He realised that such a model fits perfectly for India, where almost 190 million people are undernourished.
He soon returned to India and decided to replicate the idea with some of his friends. The first drive they carried out served 150 people in the streets of South Delhi. Consequently, Neel Ghose and Anand Sinha, the co-founders, created this non-funded disruptive startup called Robin Hood Army (RHA) in August 2014 to collect foods from restaurants and communities and redistribute them to the less fortunate.
At last count, it has served 83.2 million people across 269 cities in 10 countries. Yet the Robins say- Just 1% done.
“So I have always looked at the RHA less as an NGO and more as a disruptive startup that uses food as a medium to bring out the best of humanity at a community level”– Neel Ghose in an interview with Mittal Institute.
How Does The Robin Hood Army Work?
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”– Mother Teresa.
Robin Hood Army is essentially fuelled by young working professionals and students called ‘Robins’ who contribute in their spare time. These Robins come from diverse backgrounds: doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, people in business, govt. employees, even folks taking sabbaticals.
RHA has a strict no-fund policy; ergo, the growth is primarily funnelled by social media and partnerships, making this organisation an atypical. The atypical world needs. For instance, BookMyShow.com helps take children who live on the street for movies and entertainment shows, Uber provides transport to help mobilise food, and Viacom created a music video featuring Bollywood artists to promote the cause.
The Vision Of Change For The Robin Hood Army
India is home to more than 3 million NGOs, including local branches of international charities and native groups, working on a wide variety of concerns such as poverty, health, human rights, environment protection, agriculture, etc.
But unfortunately, not all NGOs are essentially made on noble, altruistic grounds but instead to cater to the financial cravings of the founders. In 2009, 883 NGOs in India were blacklisted after being found to have indulged in the misappropriation of funds.
From a global perspective, “11 out of 17 of France’s largest NGOs refused to participate in a confidential Médecins du Monde study on corruption in 2008, which looked into managing risk and organisational procedures to tackle the problem”– The Guardian.
Moreover, there are instances where economically funded NGOs are allegedly suspected of funding terrorism. “US-based Pak NGOs’ mop up’ funds raised to help India in Covid-19 crisis, likely to be used to fund terror, says a report.”– The Times of India.
Such examples of exploitation of funds make RHA’s non-funding policy eminent. Yet, astonishingly, without receiving any funds, it has served more than 831 lakhs meals, enlisted more than 1.8 lakhs volunteers, and expanded to 269 cities.
The model has been so successful that it is now taught as a Case Study in Harvard’s full-time MBA programme. “It is an interesting case study of an organisation that has achieved some scale, both within India and internationally, but without any financial support,” Brian Trelstad, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, was quoted telling The Economic Times.
Impact During The Pandemic
With the pandemic affecting the lives of thousands of people worldwide, bringing about an unprecedented halt in their livelihoods, the Robins, soldiers armed with food plates, vowed to create a change by feeding 30 million people worldwide as part of their ambitious #Mission30M initiative.
They have distributed rations in over 200 cities across India, Bahrain, Botswana, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda. They have distributed over 23 million meals, and the fight continues.
Partnerships with major brands such as Nestle, KCorp and Clovia have also bolstered the efforts of the RHA in this mission. “It turned out to be the largest food relief effort carried out by civil society to fight Covid and its impact on society,” Saurabh Das, a volunteer, told RFI.
“Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre and destroys trust” – Robert Zoellick. In this world of endless desires, whims and fancies, people can traverse any boundaries, especially those that make them stay within their moral framework.
They can bleed greed, break bones, and turn a blind eye to their cry. But, in this self-inclined, egotistical and materialistic world, NGOs like RHA depict the exception. The exception that makes the world a land of the humane.