<div><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">Indian Railways continues to provide bulk cooked food with paper plates for lunch and food packets for dinner to needy people through base kitchens of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation- IRCTC during lockdown. While delivering the food to needy persons, social distancing and hygiene is being observed. From its kitchens at places including in New Delhi,Hubli, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad,Howrah, Patna, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, Balasore, Vijaywada and Guwahati, IRCTC has so far distributed around 1.3 lakh meals to the poor and the needy from 28th of March. This has been done with the help of Railway Protection Force, other government departments and NGOs. General Managers and DRMs of concerned Zone are also in continuous touch with IRCTC officials to enhance the outreach of these efforts even beyond the station vicinity to cater to the food requirements of needy people.</span></div><span style="color: #222222;"><br />''Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had also directed the officials to reach out to needy people with food and other assistance to the best of their human abilities and resources. The Ministry said, Indian Railways is gearing up to meet any higher demand to provide food to needy in the times of lock down, which has been imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It said, Indian Railways is ready for any contingency and adequate stocks of food grains and other raw material are being maintained.</span><br />