Pourakarmikas, the sanitation workers, in Mysuru who are instrumental in keeping the city's streets clean will now be provided free breakfast every day.
On Friday, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) launched a free breakfast scheme for all pourakarmikas working in the city. The scheme was launched at Madegowda Circle and Mysuru Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath had breakfast with the pourakarmikas working in Ward 11.
Though the scheme was introduced last year, it was stopped in December following complaints from pourakarmikas about the quality of food. "Initially, when the scheme was introduced, food prepared in Indira Canteens were provided for pourakarmikas. But after complaints were made about the quality and hygiene of the food provided, it was discontinued," Mayor Pushpalatha explains.
A call for a fresh tender was issued and mass caterer Rao Raghuveer Singh Seva Samiti was awarded the contract for a period of one year. The expenses for the year will be Rs 1.83 crore, Pushpalatha added.
On Friday, pourakarmikas were served upma, kesaribath and a sweet. The menu will change daily and pourakarmikas will be served dishes such as uppittu, ricebath, four idlis, bisibele bath, curd rice, tomato bath and lemon rice. The breakfast scheme will cover all 2,500 pourakarmikas working in the city, and will be available between 8 am and 10 am at designated points in each ward in the city.
"This is important because pourakarmikas begin their work as early as 6 am and if breakfast is not provided, they sometimes turn to eating in roadside outlets. It is not always possible to prepare breakfast at their home. There are times pourakarmikas would skip meals as well," says Jayanth, the Chief Health Officer in the MCC.
Pourakarmikas are tasked with keeping the city's streets clean. Mysuru was named the third cleanest city in India in the Swachh Survekshan 2019 after topping the charts for the two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015.