SDMC’s Janta Rasoi project unfeasible, say sources

To run the project, the corporation would need huge subsidy from the government

SDMC wants to emulate Tamil Nadu’s ‘Amma Canteens’. Seen above, an ‘Amma Canteen’ at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. — FILE PHOTO

South Delhi’s version of the popular ‘Amma’ canteens of Chennai may never end up opening their doors to customers as the proposal by the local civic body is, according to sources, deeply flawed.

Sources in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said the plan to build four ‘Janta ki Rasois’, modelled after the Tamil Nadu budget canteens, may never see the light of day. The SDMC had allocated Rs.5 crore for the scheme in its budget for this financial year in February.

In his Budget speech, Leader of the House Subhash Arya had said that a visit to Chennai had left him impressed with the Amma canteens and that the South Corporation would replicate the model. Four canteens, one in each zone of the SDMC, were supposed to have been set up by April. The menu was supposed to be simple, with a plate of rice, pulses and vegetables priced at Rs. 8; and Rs. 10 for the same meal with rotis.

Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, who was the chairperson of the Standing Committee till September 18, had directed officials to study the functioning of the Chennai canteens and to prepare a blueprint to adapt the same to South Delhi.

However, the project is not only running late, but now there are doubts about whether it can be implemented at all. After repeatedly being pulled up by Mr. Upadhyay for the delay, officials from the Health, Community Services, Finance and Engineering departments visited Chennai on September 11 to learn about the Amma canteens. The officials are expected to submit their report in the next meeting of the Standing Committee.

Mr. Upadhyay, who had been pushing for the project, said on Saturday that he had not received a status update on the proposal. But, he added, that he would continue to monitor the scheme’s progress even though he was no longer the chairperson of the Standing Committee.

Leader of Opposition Farhad Suri said at a meeting of the Standing Committee on September 18 that the officials’ two-day visit had brought to the fore the many practical problems in the SDMC’s plan.

“They [the officers] saw that the Tamil Nadu Government had passed a notification to allow the Corporation of Chennai to run the canteens. Feeding people is neither our obligatory nor our discretionary function under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act,” said Mr. Suri.

In Chennai, the State government’s notification came before the corporation’s resolution. According to sources, the SDMC has not formally asked the Delhi Government to issue a similar notification, though it has passed its own resolution.

Each of the 203 canteens in Chennai had cost Rs. 10.15 lakh to construct and stock with basic equipment. The Amma canteens, which sell food at highly subsidised rates, incur an annual loss of Rs. 66 core, which the State Government covers through subsidies. The Janta Rasoi proposal has no such provision, which is why officials estimate the yearly loss to be Rs.80-Rs.120 crore.

Mr. Arya had told The Hindu in February that the canteens would run at “no-profit, no-loss” and would pay salaries of the staff, which would be local women. Again, this seems unlikely without huge subsidies from the government.

While SDMC councillors, both from the BJP and the Congress, agree that serving subsidised food to Delhiites is a good idea, but questions on the Janta Rasoi plan remain unanswered for now.