Yediyurappa govt decides to charge the poor for food at Indira Canteens, draws flak

Minister Suresh Kumar says govt will charge Rs 5 for breakfast & Rs 10 for lunch, and that huge crowds at Indira Canteens were flouting social distancing norms.

A Karnataka government-run Indira Canteen in Bengaluru | Photo: Rohini Swamy | ThePrint

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has made a U-turn on its policy for Indira Canteens serving food to the poor and homeless during the Covid-19 lockdown. B.S. Yediyurappa’s government has now decided to make people pay for food, after the CM had earlier announced that it would be provided for free through the state-run canteen chain.

Karnataka’s Covid-19 spokesperson and minister S. Suresh Kumar told reporters that the government is distributing free rations, but the services at Indira Canteens will be charged ones.

“One has to pay Rs 5 for breakfast and Rs 10 for lunch,” said Suresh Kumar who is the minister for primary and secondary education, as well as labour.

The decision has drawn flak from various quarters, particularly from its intended beneficiaries, but Suresh Kumar justified the decision, saying there were several complaints on the quality of food being served, plus social distancing was not maintained by the huge crowds that went to the Indira Canteens.

Another reason behind the decision was that Bengaluru’s civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, found that “there were people who were misusing the free food that was being served in the Indira Canteens”, according to its commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar.

“Several NGOs and voluntary organisations, apart from the BBMP, have been providing free food to the migrants and daily wage workers, so food is reaching them. By pricing it, there would be more transparency,” Anil Kumar told ThePrint.

‘We don’t have work, how can we buy food?’

The decision to charge for the food at Indira Canteens has drawn flak from labourers and daily wage workers.

“We do not have work as everything is shut. How are we supposed to have money to buy food? We are at the mercy of those who bring food to us,” said Abdul Nazir, a construction worker from West Bengal who usually finds employment in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area.

Political analyst Sandeep Shastri said the decision on Indira Canteens is a “knee-jerk” reaction by the Yediyurappa government.

“There is no doubt that it is state government’s responsibility to take care of the marginalised sections of society during a crisis like this. But it should have thought ahead about whether opening the canteens would have defeated the purpose of the lockdown,” Shastri said.

“The government could have identified the areas where help is needed, and provided food through the canteens, so that a maximum number of people can be benefitted.”