BENGALURU: In the transition from 198 wards to 400 wards, the billion-dollar question today is: What happens to Indira Canteens, which alleviate the hunger of people across the city. In 2017, the Congress government opened Indira Canteens in all 198 wards, mainly with the intention to alleviate the hunger of the urban poor, especially daily wage workers, mechanics and those visiting hospitals.
When the number of wards in Bengaluru was expanded to 225 from 198, measures were taken to extend the canteens to the newly created wards as well. Now, will each of the 500 wards get one Indira Canteen? Regular canteen visitors said that given the rate of food in hotels, the city definitely needs more Indira Canteens, which serve breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch and dinner for Rs 10.
“The only request to the government is to ensure that quality food is served with satiating quantity, as the majority of Indira Canteen visitors are poor, who come here as they cannot afford to eat outside regularly. Also, timings of the canteens should be extended.
The counters are closed in maximum of two hours, within which they run out of tokens,” said a plumber who did not wish to be named, and who regularly eats at Indira Canteens wherever he is on work across Bengaluru.
City-based lawyer and rights activist Vinay Sreenivasa said that as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), nutrition is a huge crisis in Karnataka, and a city like Bengaluru with 1.3 crore people needs more canteens.
“We should definitely increase the number of Indira Canteens from 198, if not 500,” Srinivasa said, claiming that women’s Self Help Groups (SHG) and street vendors are involved in running the canteens across the city. He suggested that Indira Canteens also serve eggs and meat from a nutritional point of view, and make it easier for women to access the canteens.
For the earlier 198 wards, the civic body was able to find suitable places for only 174 canteens. As a permanent place couldn’t be found, 24 mobile canteens were set up. For multiple reasons, some of the canteens are non-functional, with around 169 running their operations, said Special Commissioner for Education and Health Suralkar Vikas Kishor.
On whether all 500 wards in the five corporations will have one Indira Canteen each, Suralkar said the decision has to be taken by the respective corporations, and if there is a need, they can be set up.