The State government has drawn up a rough menu for Namma Canteens to be opened in Bengaluru.
The breakfast will comprise pongal, upma, avalakki bath and chow chow bath. Lunch would consist of rice, sambar, a vegetable dish, pickle, and buttermilk. However, special rice comprising bisibele bath and puliyogare, and sweet would be served to customers twice a week, Food and Civil Supplies Minister U.T. Khader has said.
The government has deliberately avoided idli as most wayside eateries already sell them for ₹5 a plate (two pieces). Dinner will comprise rice, sambar, pickle, and buttermilk. Lunch and dinner a plate will cost ₹10 each.
The canteens, modelled on Amma Canteens of Tamil Nadu, will soon be opened in all wards of the city corporation and Urban Development Minister K.J. George has been given the responsibility of identifying locations.
Namma Canteens are expected to cater to labourers, students, autorickshaw drivers, and construction workers, Mr. Khader said. The monthly subsidy would touch ₹9 crore. The government has proposed to run these on canteens on the PPP model and has commenced short-listing NGOs having experience in handling midday meal schemes to supply food from their base kitchens. “By involving a partner, we can maintain uniformity in quality and taste of across canteens” he said.
Akshaya Patra, managed by ISKCON, and Adamya Chetana, run by Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, wife of Union Minister Ananth Kumar, could be approached as both organisations have wide experience in preparing and supplying midday meals, Mr. Khader said.
