HYDERABAD: With thousands of people dependent on Annapurna canteens for their daily meals, a recent study found that the supervisors did not conduct regular food inspections and few were not even aware of its procedure.
The study done by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) called the “Food and Welfare: A Case Study of Annapurna Canteens in Hyderabad” observed, “Most of the supervisors reported that the food inspections were not carried out frequently at regular intervals. A few canteen supervisors were not aware of the procedure of food inspections.
Annapurna canteens, where one can get a nutritious meal (albeit not hygienic as it turns out) for a mere Rs 5, cater to around 70,000 customers daily. They are managed by the GHMC and Hare Krishna Movement (HKM).
“This also indicates that while the mandate of monitoring lies with the GHMC, no specific responsibilities and procedures seem to have been in place to ensure effective monitoring and accountability,” it added.
It also found that most of the canteen kiosks were located beside large dustbins, small dumps or open canals. More than half, 53 per cent of beneficiaries were migrants as opposed to 47 per cent locals.
Most of the migrants hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh as well as other regions of Telangana.
“Migrants consume more on a daily basis than locals, demonstrating high levels of food vulnerability given insufficient housing conditions for migrants, sometimes without existence of kitchens,” the study said.