MasterChef’s Sandeep Pandit feeds the poor amid India’s COVID-19 crisis

MasterChef contestant Sandeep Pandit is turning his talents from his kitchen to fundraising in bid to help feed India’s most in need during the COVID-19 crisis.

Former MasterChef contestant Sandeep Pandit is turning his talents from his kitchen to fundraising in bid to help feed India’s poorest of the poor during the COVID-19 crisis.

The father of one, who migrated to Australia from India less than five years ago, said he was touched by the plight of India’s forgotten people some who are so sick they can’t cook for themselves and some who are too poor to buy any food.

Given the title of best Indian cook in the 11 seasons of MasterChef for his Lobster Masala dish, Mr Pandit said he decided to use his social media profile to raise money and has promised to donate his prized MasterChef jacket to the highest donor on his GoFundMe page.

Former Master Chef contestant Sandeep Pandit (pictured here with his mother in India) is launching his own fundraising for India including auctioning his prized MC kit. Picture: supplied

He is directing the money raised to a group of small non-government organisations helping feed the forgotten people.

He is also supporting the efforts of one woman Aakanksha Sadekar who is cooking at her home in the state of Maharashtra and using her bike to deliver food to destitute women and children living on the streets of Pune.

“Just $11 will buy a 25kg bag of rice and that can feed a lot of people,” said Mr Pandit.

Mr Pandit said people are sinking into poverty which is a fast-growing consequence of the pandemic.

MasterChef contestant Sandeep Pandit. Picture: David Crosling

Sudarshan Succhi, the CEO of Save the Children in India, agrees and said many families have been left without a source of income pulling millions of children below the poverty line and the poorest into even deeper poverty.

“The pandemic has reversed much of the progress India has made in reducing poverty and, as is too often the case, it is the poorest and most marginalised children who have been hardest hit. As the pandemic continues to pose a serious disruption to children’s learning, any hopes they had of moving out of poverty are fast disappearing,” Mr Succhi said.

“What is even more worrying is … many more children will lose parents or family members, and more leaving them unable to cope.”