In the last few days, the internet came together to help an elderly couple who run a small food joint in Delhi's Malviya Nagar. Due the pandemic, 80-year-old Kanta Prasad and his wife were struggling to make ends meet with their 'Baba Ka Dhaba', which they've been running for 30 years.
Once their story went viral, people from across Delhi began flocking to the joint to offer help, including AAP MLA Somnath Bharti.
And now, Zomato has officially listed the Dhaba on their app so the couple can be discovered by others.
UPDATE: baba ka dhaba is now listed on zomato and our team is working with the elderly couple there to enable food deliveries
— zomato india (@ZomatoIN) October 8, 2020
thank you to the good people of the internet for bringing our attention to this ❤️
Zomato does not show a delivery option for the shop yet, only a Dine-In page is available so far. The app also asked the internet to extend the same support towards other small local bossinesses in need of help by filling a form on their website.
there are many other baba ka dhabas out there who need help- if you know a similar outlet, go to https://t.co/LvDa7NiYL5 to share their details and we promise we'll do what we can 😇
— zomato india (@ZomatoIN) October 8, 2020
While some on Twitter were quite impressed with Zomato's help, others began questioning the integrity and the hidden motives of the app.
Great work !! Try to make deliveries (as much as you can) commission free for such small outlets / dhabas. Help them further stand up. Excellent work. #VocalForLocal
— Ishan (@ishanme) October 8, 2020
this is the most wholesome news I've come across in a while now 😭❤
— Suj (@Sujoyata) October 9, 2020
This initiative will go a long way towards connecting small businesses to customers, increasing the footfall for local street vendors.