Breakfast at Rs 5, lunch at Rs 10: Namma Canteens in Bengaluru soon

Taking cue from  former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday announced Namma canteens.

The Namma canteens will serve subsidised food -- breakfast and lunch at Rs 5 and Rs 10, respectively. The outlets will be launched in Bengaluru initially. 

Siddaramaiah has earmarked Rs 100 crore or Rs 50 lakhs each to set up the canteens in 198 wards of Bengaluru.

In other districts across the states, subsidised food will be made available at Saviruchi Sanchari (mobile) canteens, which will be run by women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

“We have requested NGOs like Iskcon and others to take the responsibility. Our goal is to provide hygienic  and good quality food so that even the poor people should have good food,” says a senior minister. 

“The self-help groups are coming forward to set up canteens. Because it is run by women, it is as good as home cooked food,” says the minister.

With the elections due next year, Siddaramaiah announced a people-friendly budget this year. The government has also abolished additional excise on liquor and lifted the VAT on beer, wine, feni and hard liquor.

Currently, in Tamil Nadu, there are around 360 Amma Canteens. The initiative to provide nutritious food to poor people in the state started in 2011 in Chennai but was later expanded to various other districts. In the canteens, Idli is sold at Rs 1 and Pongal at Rs 5, Sambar rice for Rs 5 and curd Rice for Rs 3.