Indira Canteens that had lost its sheen over the last few years are all set to make a comeback. Shortly after the civic body called for tenders worth ₹150 crore to revamp Indira Canteens with a new menu, the Budget presented on Thursday announced that 50 new Indira Canteens will be built at a cost of ₹70 crore, including at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and BBMP head office.
The civic Budget proposes to build one ‘Shravana Vasathi Old Age Home’ and a ‘Savitri Vasathi Hostel’ named after Savitribai Phule for working women in every zone. Eight old age homes and eight working women hostels will come up. The Budget also proposes to build a night shelter dedicated to transgenders and revamp 48 existing night shelters in the city. The Budget also allocates ₹10 crore to fund 50% of the project cost or up to ₹1.5 lakh to transgenders and other economically backward classes to start small enterprises.
Last year, the civic body announced that they will build 100 SHE toilets in public private partnership. However, private players did not come forward over viability issues due to ban on hoardings over these toilets. This has prompted the civic body to build 50 SHE toilets from its own resources this year. BBMP has also proposed to build “Pink Rooms” to make sanitary napkins and restrooms available for women during menstruation at bus stations, malls, and toilets.
For the first time, BBMP has launched a new welfare scheme to distribute e-scooters to working women and pourakarmikas and has earmarked ₹12 crore in the Budget for the purpose. Further, the civic body will give a subsidy of ₹1.5 lakh to women and transgenders and ₹1 lakh to others for 5,000 beneficiaries to purchase e-vending autorickshaws.
