Coalition Government fails to clear bills of food contractor since seven months

Mysuru:  While people calm their hunger pangs at Indira Canteens, the canteens per se are ‘starving,’ thanks to the State Government that has not released funds since seven months.

Indira Canteen, one of the ambitious ‘food for all’ projects of the State Government that was launched first in Bengaluru during August 2017 and then in Mysuru during January 2018 to make the two cities ‘hunger-free’ by serving affordable and clean food to the poor, is facing a crisis situation as funds have not been released for day-to-day maintenance.

As the State Government and the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) have not cleared dues, the food contractors are running the show themselves and are now struggling to meet ends due to paucity of funds.

Indira Canteens are a pet project of former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and the intention of launching this project was to ensure that the poor are not deprived of food. While there are more than 100 canteens in Bengaluru, Mysuru has eleven across the city. It serves vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner. While breakfast is served for Rs.5, lunch and dinner costs Rs.10.

The MCC launched the canteens in January this year and a New Delhi-based company operates them. Food is supplied from two centralised kitchens located at Alanahalli and Kumbarakoppal.

On a daily basis, each canteen serves about 500 breakfast, lunch and dinner — a whopping 1,500 plates a day. This scheme has received good response from students, daily wagers, autorickshaw drivers and other public.

Though Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy promised to continue all the old schemes initiated by the Siddharamaiah government including Indira Canteens, sources said that dues to the food contractors have not been cleared ever since the Congress-JD(S) coalition Government came to power.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Mysuru Indira Canteen food contractor M.V. Madhu said that the payment for preparation and supply of food has been withheld since May. Food is served at subsidised rates at Indira Canteens and the implementing agency (MCC) must pay an equal amount of charge for the food contractor as per the agreement.

A large number of people consume breakfast and lunch at K.R. Hospital, near CADA Office and other canteens located at Central Business District while the numbers for dinner is low according to sources. “We have to purchase items like rice, vegetables, pulses and spices from the market on credit and traders cannot endlessly wait for the payment to be released,” he said.    

Madhu said he has got an assurance from MCC Commissioner K.H. Jagadeesha that dues will be cleared soon. He said that they have been supplying food items without compromising on the quality and quantity despite the delay in money release.

“The poor have not been deprived of their meal. We have been maintaining the quality and we have not cut down the quantity. Our sole intention is to provide affordable and quality food to the poor and people from economically weaker sections of society. We hope the funds are released soon for this public-friendly scheme,” Madhu added.

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