Mumbai, May 5 The 'Solar2EV for Social Justice' - a major initiative of the state and Centre to empower Dalit women and other deprived sections, is set to spread wings with potentially huge employment opportunities and economic prosperity, as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Launched by the governments at the Centre and Maharashtra in February, the 'Mi Home Chef' programme will see 50 cloud kitchens coming up in Mumbai with 100 electric-powered food trucks, with jobs to over 50,000 women through Mahila Bachat Gats (MBGs), this year, and subsequently spreading out to other parts of the state and rest of the country.
The cost-effective, eco-friendly initiative combines several elements - MBGs, solar power, EVs and e-commerce with the support of the corporate CSR and the F&B sector, said an official overseeing the project.
This will provide a regular source of income to thousands of women, employment opportunities for their families, support for the growing EV industry, environmental conservation targets, besides aligning with PM Modi's vision for women's empowerment and social justice to all.
According to one of the prime movers, T24 Hotels Group Mumbai's C-MD Bharat Malkani, the MBG members shall be encouraged to provide traditional recipes which would be vetted by a team of expert chefs of five-star or deluxe hotels for inclusion on their menus.
Once approved, the recipes shall be prepared by the five-star chefs at their hotels, and restaurants during the lean business hours, and the food prepared by MBG members shall be served to the patrons, in-house and outside through e-commerce partners.
"This will help the women develop a regular source of income, they will be motivated to set up cloud kitchens for the fast-moving popular recipes, and the EV food trucks will help deliver them to customers. Hotels will benefit from food choices with that 'traditional touch' on the menu," Malkani told IANS.
Pravin More, Assistant Secretary to Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, said that the government will help the MBG's with basic capital, involve more women to join such groups, arrange financing for EV two-wheelers, autorickshaws, tempos or trucks to transport the food.
"We are starting with 50 Mi Home Chef, solar-powered cloud kitchens, for the SC/ST women and from other deprived sections of society. We shall give 100 EV food trucks in public-private partnership in Maharashtra," More explained to IANS.
Chef Anushka Malkani, from Les Roches Hospitality, Switzerland and founder of Masa Bakery in Mumbai, is advising the MBGs on preparing recipes by the women members which will be selected based on their uniqueness, quality and commercial potential.
These approved recipes will be promoted through various apps, social media outlets, and business partners with credit to the creator for making them "atmanirbhar".
"For women who wish to run a full-fledged kitchen, we shall collaborate with corporate CSRs to help establish the entire kitchen and align the program with other state government schemes such as Mahatma Phule Corporation, LIDCOM, Annabhau Sathe Mahamandal, Divyang Department, MAVIM, and others. This will help women achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and add to the female workforce in the F&B sectors," said Chef Anushka.
Malkani and More added that Mi Home Chef would help women from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds with a golden opportunity to share their recipes, establish their culinary-catering businesses, celebrate cultural diversity, and march to socio-economic progress.
In the past four months, the Mi Home Chef has been getting offers of support not only from deluxe or corporate hotels, but also individual fine-dining restaurants in Mumbai, boosting the morale of the MBGs.
For instance, Navi Mumbai's Aloha Fusion Kitchen (AFK), set up a weaker section entrepreneur Abhijeet Mankar, has allowed the MBGs to use their kitchen as a ‘base’ for launching multiple cloud kitchens, which will cater to the rising demand for fresh, hygienic, home-cooked cuisine in the region.
More explained that after ascertaining the status of preparedness of civic bodies to provide space for the women-run cloud kitchens, the EV trucks, EV charging points and the entire ecosystem related to the food industry, Minister Athawale will flag off the project post-polls.
Interestingly, several Chefs from SC & ST communities - like Chef Uday Shinde of Fern Hotels, Mumbai - who are big names professionally, are now willing to collaborate in their individual capacities pro-bono for this plan for Mi Home Chef.
Malkani said that this will be the first of its kind partnership of five-star hotels, top Chefs, the state and central government and ordinary MBGs, with long-term social-economic benefits spearheaded by the womenfolk for thousands of backward families.
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