Didi Ki Rasoi, first started in 2018 as part of the World Bank-supported Bihar Transformative Development Project, is one of the many enterprise promotion initiatives undertaken by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (JEEViKA). It was established to operate food service counters throughout the district and block hospitals in the state.
The first one was established in the Vaishali district of Bihar, which scaled up across all 38 districts in the state. Presently, over 83 such enterprises operate in Bihar across government hospitals, medical colleges, banks, schools and other institutions. The initiative involves more than 1,200 women entrepreneurs and 150 full-time employees, who are further mentored by 20 consultants, with experience in hotel management and catering.
JEEViKA provides the capital to establish each enterprise, while the Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) are responsible for getting equipment and utensils. The CLFs involve women from local self-help groups who undergo a seven-day training program on technical and managerial aspects, including hygiene, book-keeping and customer service.
Customers from government hospitals, medical colleges, schools, banks and other institutions are provided with home-cooked meals that are not only affordable, but nutritious and wholesome too. The meals include eggs, fruits and milk for breakfast; pulses, roti, rice, seasonal vegetables for lunch and dinner; tea and biscuits for evening snacks. The menu for the walk-in canteens, which provides local snacks like litti and kachori, is popular,. Most of the raw materials are purchased from the local farmers and produce groups supported by JEEViKA.
Image source: World Bank