Indira Canteen, meant to feed urban poor, is now starved of funds

BBMP admits to dip in patronage, while patrons say quality has suffered. Civic body is now mulling relocating some of them

Chandra Kumar, a migrant construction worker from Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, along with his two children and wife, work in various construction sites in and around Arekere in South Bengaluru. They depended on the Indira Canteen in Ward 186 for the last five months for their two meals as the canteen provides food at subsidised rates. Today, they say, the quality and quantity have come down drastically. They have noticed this over the last one year.

Paramesh, a food delivery person who has his afternoon meals at the canteen daily after his hectic job, says that food was good earlier, but now, the quality is not great. “But what to do? We earn very little, and we can't afford to eat in Darshini hotels as it costs ₹55 for just rice and sambar there. In Indira canteen, it is just ₹10 a plate,” he said, while adding that the government has to give more importance to the canteen food quality and hygiene.

The canteen workers say quality has dipped because the contractors have started giving tasteless food as the popularity of the canteens has reduced, leading to losses. But the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) insists the canteen is running successfully.

The announcement of the setting up Indira Canteens aimed at the urban poor was made in March 2017, following the Amma canteen model in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his Budget set aside ₹ 100 crore for these canteens, named after the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

On August 16, 2017, 101 Indira Canteens were inaugurated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had the first breakfast at one of them in Jayanagar. Later, the initiative was expanded to various parts of the State, especially to cater to the urban poor.

The Opposition alleges that things started to change when the BJP came to power. The canteens in the city are operating, but have not been given any boost, and slowly turning it into an unsuccessful model.

Today, there are 174 fixed Indira Canteens and 24 mobile canteens serving lakhs of citizens, especially those belonging to lower socio-economic groups, who depend on the canteens for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which are made available at a subsidised cost. After 101 canteens were initially opened in 2017, their popularity led to the expansion of the scheme to all the 198 wards.