BENGALURU: The Indira Canteens, a flagship project of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for the benefit the urban poor, are now all but closed.
The Indira Canteens were started to make breakfast and meals available at lesser prices. While breakfast was served at Rs 5, meals were served at Rs 10 per plate. The canteens served three meals a day and the BBMP bore the additional cost. Now, this is looking to an end. While Indira Canteens were set up in every ward in Bengaluru, they were also launched in some other parts of the state.
Zone-wise list of Indira canteens as on Dec 2022
While there are differing opinions regarding the closure of the canteens funds have not been released to the canteen contractors due to alleged accounting discrepancies. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said the issue of closure of the canteens will be looked into soon.
Tushar Giri Nath, BBMP Chief Commissioner, said, “We do not want to close down Indira Canteens, but some mobile canteens have stopped their service because of less demand. Some organisations were running those canteens, but now they say that they are not able to continue it and we have considered their view. We need to give extensions to some other canteens. It had been on hold for a year. As a result of this, they are not getting paid.
The extension procedure is almost complete now. We’re taking a conservative approach, but we will settle the remaining mobile canteens’ pending bills.”
Indira Canteen contractors such as Chef Talks, Rewards and Adamya Chetana Trust have warned the civic body that if it fails to pay their dues, more canteens will be closed. In the tussle between the contractors and the government, the urban poor are left to suffer.