Hyderabad: For every person hunting for new ways to convert their black money, there is someone else coming up with new ways to help those rendered cashless by demonetisation.
One such Good Samaritan is Syed Naseer, the owner of Food on Fire restaurant in Hyderabad’s Mehndipatnam area. Nasser and his friends have come together to feed those who have not been able to afford food since Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were demonetised.
“After demonetisation, some daily wage workers outside my restaurant told me that they had not eaten for two days as they had not been paid in legal denominations. After listening to them, my friends Akram and Gajendra, and I decided to start the free food stall," Naseer tells CNN-News18.
Most of those thronging the stall for free lunch are migrant labourers who came to the city for work but are now struggling to get paid. Those waiting for their salaries are also queuing up outside the stall and even getting food packed for family members.
"We are not getting money. There is no work. So where and how do we get food?" asks Raju, a daily wager who visits the food stall everyday with other labourers.
It is not only daily wagers who are benefitting from Naseer’s good work. His stall also feeds those with Rs 2,000 notes as no budget eatery is able to tender legal change for the high denomination new currency note.
“Where do I spend my Rs 2,000 note? Nobody is taking that note. So when I have no other place to eat food, I come here,” says Abdul, an auto-rickshaw driver.
Around 500 people are served free lunch, which includes dal and rice, at the stall every day. Naseer and his friends manage funds with contributions from like-minded friends and relatives.
The food service began on November 21 and these Hyderabadis plan to continue till the cash flow returns to normal.
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