In light of the complaints about the quality of food served in Indira canteens across Bengaluru, Karnataka Deputy CM G Parameshwara said weekly inspections will be carried out to check cleanliness and quality of food served in each of the outlets.
The Deputy CM, who also holds the portfolio of Bengaluru Development ministry, on Thursday inspected one of the Indira Canteen kitchens and outlets. He visited the Deepanjali Nagara Indira Kitchen and Canteen and the Nayandahalli Indira Canteen, along with Bengaluru Mayor Gangambike Malikarjun.
During his visit, Paramshwara asked officials to collect food samples from all the kitchens and canteens and send it for testing.
“Stringent action will be initiated if cleanliness is not maintained in the kitchens and canteens,” the Deputy CM said, according to The Hindu.
The visit comes after one BJP corporator on Monday alleged that the quality of food served in Indira Cantens was substandard. Umesh Shetty, the corporator from Govindarajanagar (Ward 104) in Bengaluru, got the food tested by sending samples to the Ramaiah Advanced Testing Laboratory and to the government-run Public Health Institute.
According to the lab reports he shared with the media, food samples were collected from the Indira Canteens at Byatarayanapura, JP Nagar, Jayanagar and Nagapura wards on 20 February. The Bisibelebath was bacteria-ridden and it was concluded that the sample was unfit for human consumption. The report also found that the microbiological quality of the sambar and rice samples was “not within satisfactory limits”, according to related documents accessed by TNM.
Indira Canteens, started by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is a food subsidisation programme for the urban poor, run by the Karnataka government. It is present in all the 198 wards of the city and functions like the Amma Canteen in Tamil Nadu introduced by late CM, J Jayalalithaa.
The present JD(S)-Congress coalition government is continuing the scheme like many other populist measures initiated by Siddaramaiah.