‘Those who give dough can also have pizza,’ say friends who organised ‘pizza langar’ for farmers
''Pizza langar' was to change the public perception about farmers'
New Delhi, Dec 13: A group of five friends set out from Amritsar on a cold Saturday morning. They didn't have much time to organise a regular langar, so they collected 'regular-sized' pizzas from a Haryana mall and set up a stall at the Singhu border.
Around 400 pizzas were distributed within minutes as a huge crowd, including the protesting peasants and residents from nearby areas, queued up.
The 'pizza langar' has since hogged headlines and garnered compliments from different quarters, and also brickbats from a certain section.
"The farmers who gave the dough for pizzas can also afford to have one themselves," says Shanbir Singh Sandhu, who organised the 'pizza langar' with his four friends for the peasants protesting at the Delhi-Haryana border against the contentious agri-marketing laws.
"We didn't have much time to organise a regular lentils-chapatti langar.... So we came up with this idea," says Sandhu, who is himself a farmer and an economics student at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar.
The farmers have been protesting at several border points into Delhi for over two weeks over their demands to repeal the new legislations, which they claim would benefit the corporates, and end the traditional wholesale markets and the minimum support price regime.
Sandhu's friend, Shahnaz Gill, underscored that people get bored eating the same thing everyday. "We thought we should bring them (farmers) something else to keep their spirits up," he said.
The 21-year-old student of agriculture says this is first time they have organised a 'pizza langar', expressing happiness that people have appreciated their efforts.
However, Sandhu says it is unfortunate and totally unacceptable that some people were ridiculing farmers having pizzas.
"Few people just cannot digest that a farmer can have a car, wear good clothes and have a pizza. The farmer has moved on from dhoti-kurta to jeans and T-shirt," the 25-year-old student says. "It's about time these people grew up."
One of the reasons for organising a 'pizza langar' was to change the public perception about farmers, he adds.
Gill says no one has the right to comment on what a farmer should eat or wear.
"People have been calling us 'so-called farmers'. Before making any such comment, they should come and meet us first, he says. "They will get to know that our thinking is much better than theirs."
The five friends have decided to organise another such langar, which they say will be better and bigger.
It can be pizza or burger or something else, too, Sandhu says.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka govt directs municipal corps to regulate, prohibit pigeon feeding
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has issued directions to municipal corporations across the state to regulate and prohibit feeding pigeons in public places, citing serious public health concerns.
Deputy Secretary to Government V Lakshmikanth has written to the Urban Development Department requesting it to issue directions to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and all municipal corporations to take immediate steps to implement the measures.
In an official note dated December 16 issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department and released to the media on Wednesday, the department said uncontrolled feeding of pigeons in public places has resulted in large congregations of birds, excessive droppings and serious health concerns, particularly respiratory illnesses linked to prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings and feathers such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other lung diseases.
ALSO READ: Chinese GPS tracker found on seagull near Karwar Coast
"The commissioner, the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Commissioners and chief officers of other municipal corporations shall take necessary action to mitigate the causes of dangerous disease spread by pigeon and enforce specified guidelines in their respective jurisdiction," the note said.
According to the department, these include a prohibition on feeding pigeons or causing pigeons to be fed in areas where it may cause nuisance or pose a health hazard to the public. Pigeon feeding shall be permitted only in designated areas in a controlled manner, subject to certain conditions.
"The designated areas may be selected in consultation with stakeholders. The responsibility for upkeep of the designated areas and compliance to the directions shall be taken up by some charitable organisation or an NGO. The feeding in designated areas shall be permitted only for some limited hours in the day," it said.
The note further stated that authorised officers of local authorities shall issue on-the-spot warnings and may impose fines for violation of the order, or lodge complaints to prosecute offenders under Sections 271 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 272 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It also directed local authorities to conduct public awareness campaigns, including the display of signboards, banners and digital messages, explaining the health hazards associated with pigeon droppings and feathers, the content of the regulatory directions and penalties for violations, and alternative humane methods of bird conservation that do not endanger public health.
