Bengaluru: One hundred and one Indira Canteens will begin serving affordable food to citizens across Bengaluru from August 16. Earlier, it was decided to open 125 Indira Canteens on August 16 but the number of Indira Canteens has come down to 101.
“We received the orders on June 12 and in 60 days we have worked harder than ever to achieve this. Yesterday [Friday], work on the 86th canteen was completed,” said Mayor G. Padmavathi on Saturday.
The canteens will initially be supplied by six kitchens which are ready to serve 5,000 to 6,000 plates of food every day. Eventually, the number of kitchens will increase to 14.
The canteens will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at prices as low as Rs. 5 and Rs. 10. This is possible with a subsidy by the government of around Rs. 32 per person for all three meals.
Discussing the quality of food, BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunatha Prasad said, “There is a standard operating procedure rulebook that all the staff has been trained to follow. This will ensure quality of the food.” A BBMP app will help people find the nearest canteen based on their location.
According to BBMP, the remaining 97 canteens will come up by October 2. While sites for 181 canteens have been identified, a lot of sites have faced stiff opposition because of their location within parks or in other such public places.
“The construction of around 24 canteens had to be called off after commencement due to various issues, which has affected the target of 125 canteens by August 16,’’ the Mayor said.
