ABSTRACT
Irrespective of theoretical wrangling around the basic needs approach, universal agreement on the relevance and components of basic needs is here to stay. No development paradigm can overlook paramount importance of basic needs in sustaining human life. Aristotelian logic of State having come into existence for the sake of life, withstands turn of centuries and so does the State obligation to fulfil basic needs. Forsaking the necessity of making provisions for food, clothing and shelter, is too perilous a risk for State to even contemplate undertaking. Amidst Covid-19 like catastrophic adversities, the State capacity to cater to these basic needs gets severely circumscribed. During unavoidable imposition of lockdown, in hugely populated countries like India and in densely inhabited cities like Delhi, ensuring uninterrupted supply lines of food became an uphill task. In such a scenario, voluntary community service, initially by Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, New Delhi, and subsequently, in partnership with the Government, filled the gap, in provisioning for basic needs of, common place and front-line warriors. This novel experience of unprecedented public–private partnership, is worth replication, even in the post-Covid era.
