BENGALURU: Indira Canteen, the pet project of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched during his first term from 2013-2018, which aims at ensuring good quality meals to the poor, migrant and labour class at cheap rates, has been revived by the Congress government. In his recent budget, the CM announced an allocation of Rs 100 crore for the renovation and maintenance of these public canteens.
To give the project a further push, and revive those which have shut down, the state government is also working on changing breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Sweet dishes and festival savouries would be included in the menus while keeping the cost factor in mind.
Although the government had intended to have Indira Canteens across the state, covering all 314 urban local bodies (ULBs), so far they have been established in 191 ULBs, the highest number being in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits. They were to be set up with a 30 per cent share from the state government and 70 per cent from local bodies and corporations. The project was given a push in BBMP limits, with 169 fixed and 8 mobile canteens operating in Bengaluru, which houses the highest number of migrant labourers, patients, citizens and job seekers from rural Karnataka.
Indira Canteens saw a decline since 2018 due to political reasons, as officials could not manage finances and discrepancies with the contractors. Due to this, around 20 Indira Canteens, including mobile ones, were shut, most of them in Bengaluru South and RR Nagar.
However, now the state government not just wants to reopen the ones that have shut, but also start them in all ULBs, BBMP in particular. The revised menu proposal includes adding bread-jam sandwiches, ragi mudde, Mangaluru buns and payasam. “We plan to have the new menu on alternate days, and not regularly. There were suggestions that eggs be added, but that proposal has not been sent to the state government for approval,” said an urban development department official.
Pending bills
More than the public, officials and agencies maintaining the canteens are worried, and hoping for a successful revival. Officials admitted that many patrons complain of poor quality food, poor maintenance, staff crunch, pending bills and even improper supply of drinking water from Bangalore Water Supply Sewerage Board. According to a contractor running an Indira Canteen in Bengaluru, BBMP has to clear pending bills worth Rs 84 crore to various agencies, including staff of Chef Talks, Rewards and Adamya Chetana.
“Chef Talks runs 96 canteens across South Zone, Bommanahalli and West Zone. Rewards caters to 45 wards in Mahadevpura, Yelahanka and Dasarahalli, and Adamya Chetana looks at 40 wards in East Zone. Bills worth Rs 45 crore are yet to be cleared for Chef Talks, bills for Rs 21 crore for Rewards and Rs 18 crore pending to Adamya Chetana,” said the UDD official.
Contractor agencies have also blamed municipalities for turning a blind eye to lurking danger at centralised kitchens, as steam boilers of 250-litres capacity used to cook rice have developed cracks and need to be changed immediately.
“The warranty is for three years, the kitchen equipment should have been replaced three years after installation. We gave representations to the BBMP Chief Commissioner, BBMP Special Commissioner and BBMP Joint Commissioner, but there has still not been any response to it. A blast can occur any time and those working in the vicinity will suffer grievous injuries or even death,” said a contractor woWrking with the state government.
Quantity, quality take a hit
Earlier, 500 plates of breakfast and lunch, and 200 plates of dinner were served. But now the number has dropped by 50 per cent due to payment issues. “We are not able to deliver quality and quantity due to expenses. We have not yet paid salaries to over 300 staffers for the past three months. Also, around 50 per cent of the staff has left in the past week. We cannot run the show if BBMP does not clear outstanding bills,” the contractor said.
In case of Bengaluru, the contractors also blame marshals appointed by the government as officials to keep a check on solid waste management and Indira Canteens. They say the marshals sleep inside the canteens, which is not hygienic.
Most of the canteens do not have Cauvery water supply connections in Bengaluru, as BWSSB has cut their lines due to payment issues with the BBMP. Similar is the situation in other ULBs, where clearing of bills continues to be an issue. The situation is worse due to poor maintenance and hygiene.
In Kalaburagi, seven public canteens were shut down in the past seven months, and the agencies that operate them blame it on a lack of funds. Similar is the condition in Dakshina Kannada, where the public is upset with the quality of food, and point out that cleanliness is a big concern.
Dheeraj, a lecturer from Mangaluru, said many college students wish to visit Indira Canteens located near their college, as breakfast and lunch is served at affordable prices, but don’t because of the unhygienic conditions around the canteen and low quality food. This needs to be addressed immediately. Open defecation is common near the canteen, which is close to the service area and bus stand. Garbage is also dumped nearby, he said.
Adding to this, G K Bhat, an activist from Mangaluru, said half-cooked food is served, and leftover lunch is served in the evening. In Kodagu, only two canteens are functioning -- in Madikeri and Virajpet -- and that too with minimum facilities. Very few people visit them. In case of Somwarpet, only foundation work was completed for the Indira Canteen. Hardly 50 people visit the canteens during weekdays, and on Sundays, the number goes down to 20.
In Shivamogga, only four Indira Canteens are running smoothly ever since they were inaugurated. Officials said they were not closed, and continue to operate even during the pandemic. Amogh, Assistant Executive Engineer (Environment), Shivamogga City Corporation, said all the canteens have been receiving good response since the time they were inaugurated.
The quality of food and hygiene has been maintained, as done earlier. He added that 400-450 plates of breakfast and 150-200 plates of lunch are served at each Indira Canteen. So around 600-800 plates of lunch are served on a daily basis. However, there is not much demand for dinner here, with just 80-100 plates served at all four canteens collectively.
However, members of Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samithi (DSS) recently staged a protest against a lack of cleanliness and basic amenities at Indira Canteens, and demanded that the city corporation repair them and provide drinking water units. With no proper doors, the canteens had become a hotspot for drunkards to carry out illegal activities in the night hours. They also alleged there is a lack of security at night.
Name change
When in power, the BJP government, in a bid to make the project their own, contemplated renaming Indira Canteens. Many names were floated, like that of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee or just Annapoorna Canteens.
The project was launched by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Kanakanapalya, near Ashoka Pillar, in August 2017. He also had breakfast at the Indira Canteen.
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(With inputs from Ramakrishna Badseshi, Prajna GR, Arpita I and Divya Cutinho)