This Karnataka Man Gives Free Vegetables To Govt Schools For Mid-day Meals

Muhammad Sharif, a vegetable seller from Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada, is currently dominating the headlines. According to Local 18 Kannada, he has won appreciation for distributing free vegetables to the government schools. Sharif has been doing this noble act for the past 8 years.

The Dakshina Kannada-based vegetable seller is particularly concerned about his students not facing the hardships he faced during his student life. Sharif’s vegetable shop’s name is Chandrika Vegetables and is located in the Melkar, Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada. He has now earned a social activist’s reputation and knows the importance of education.

It all started with Muhammad Sharif meeting Sangeetha Sharma, a teacher at the Govt Higher Primary School, Maji. Maji is a small village that comes under the Dakshina Kannada. It comes under Veerakamba Panchayath. The teacher had come to Sharif’s shop 8 years ago and told the story of the school’s poor enrollment. Sangeetha asked Sharif whether he could help her school by distributing free vegetables. The Dakshina Kannada-based vegetable seller immediately agreed and promised the teacher to do the same.

To date, 250 students of the school are relishing the vegetables procured from Sharif’s shop. The two commonly purchased vegetables from his shop are the sambar and palya recipes. Sharif also donates vegetables to events organised in the school. There are many varieties in the foods donated to the school like potato, beetroot, cucumber, etc. Considering the subsidy received from the government to feed the hungry students, it is not possible to buy vegetables at high rates.

The schools can purchase the food products only with the help of donors. In this initiative, Muhammad Sharif has become a major contributor and has now extended his help to many other prominent educational institutions as well. These institutions also include the other government schools of Veerakamba Panchayath, such as Kelinja and Balila villages.

Recently, Sharif has also started distributing free vegetables to the students in a government school situated in the Kanchinadka Padavu in Bantwal Taluk. He provides the vegetables to the Maji school daily while once or twice a week to the other schools.