The State Cabinet on Monday has asked the Urban Development Department to conduct a survey on relocation of Indira Canteens located in lesser populated areas to densely populated areas such as bus stands, railway stations, market areas.
Briefing about the decisions taken at a Cabinet meeting here, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said the Government has been providing a 30% subsidy to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for operating Indira Canteens in different parts of the city.
To make canteens economically viable and provide services to more people, the Cabinet has decided to relocate canteens in densely populated areas and commercial places. Based on the survey report of the Urban Development Department, the Minister said locations would be identified.
There are 174 fixed Indira Canteens and 24 mobile canteens serving lakhs of citizens, mostly belonging to lower socio-economic groups in the city.
Currently, three agencies — Chef Talk, Rewards, and Adamya Chetana — are providing food to the Indira Canteens. The BBMP had earmarked ₹60 crore in the 2022-23 Budget for running the Indira Canteens, he said
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the Government would procure an additional 1.14 lakh tonnes of ragi from farmers under the minimum support price. This would cost ₹487 crore. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on MSP operations.
“We’ve already produced procured 2.1 lakh tonnes of ragi. But, there was pressure from farmers to procure more,” he said.
