Close to 20,000 requests have been received so far through the *161# food ration helpline.

Ministry for Economy, Coordinator Kamal Gounder told FBC News that 5,000 rations were mobilized yesterday but they’re now looking into the amount that was distributed.

As of 7am today, trucks were again fully loaded and deployed to various zones.

“Today we are looking at around close to five thousand ration packs that have gone out. This includes the leftovers from yesterday also. Because the teams were not able to distribute the full list of rations yesterday because they had to finish off at 10.30 pm. So where they left off yesterday they will continue and take over the next batch of requests that have come in.”

Gounder says analyzing the data received was a challenge as more than one family member from the same household was applying for rations.

“People from the same household, it’s more than one people texting and applying to *161#. So the team had to delete all those repetitions before the teams were mobilized on the ground.”

Given that this is a demand-driven initiative, the ministry says it has mobilized more resources from today.