BENGALURU: Two-and-a-half months after the Indira Canteens were launched across Bengaluru with much fanfare by the Siddaramaiah government, complaints of shortage of food and inadequate quantity continue to dog the scheme. Every day, people have to wait in queues for the cheap and hygienic food but many a times, they return hungry and angry.
There are 12 kitchens serving 134 canteens in Bengaluru. The rest 64 are expected to open by this month. The BBMP’s target is to have 27 kitchens and 198 canteens in the city with each assembly constituency having one kitchen and 4-9 canteens.The menu changes every day and it is the same price for the three meals: `5 for breakfast, and `10 each for lunch and dinner. Long queues for a plate of Idlyi or Rava Khichdi and Puliyogare or Kharabhath during the morning hours and Pulao or Rice and Sambar or Bisi Bele Bhath and Curd Rice during lunch and dinner.
In most of these Canteens, within one hour of the arrival of food from centralised kitchens, the food is over. Express found some canteens maintaining their premises clean while some were unhygienic.
The crowd at most Indira Canteens comprised mostly of the working class and construction workers. Their major complaint was shortage of food, small helpings and the quality.
“Food for `10 is good for poor but the taste isn’t up to mark,” said Suresh, a cabbie who eats regularly at the Miller’s Road, Kaverappa Layout canteen.
The canteens are supposed to serve 300gm of rice, 150gm of sambar and 100gm of curd rice (or any other second dish). But how much they serve varies from one canteen to another.
Rakesh, a courier boy, who had pulao and curd rice at Jayanagar East, 2nd Block, Mavalli canteen said, “The quality of food is good and the place is clean. But I wish they could provide more quantity. Sometimes, I feel so hungry that I have to go to a food joint again.”
The canteen at Moore Road, Pulakeshinagar is clean. People said the food was good and they had no complaints.In contrast to these areas, one can see only a few people at the Rajajinagar Canteen near Orion Mall. At 12.30pm, the supervisor said 200-300 plates are usually served. “There was a big rush in the initial days but now all that has has faded, so we see only those people who need the food at this cost,” he added.