Samridhi@Kochi, an initiative under the Hunger-Free Kochi project, will soon be expanded to other city centres.
Riding on the support that the project has received, Deputy Mayor K.A. Ansiya announced that outlets would be opened across Kochi in five years. The second unit will be launched in Fort Kochi with the support of the Kerala Bank in three months.
The city unit has been offering noon meals to around 2,500 persons at ₹10 a meal. Breakfast too is supplied at subsidised rates. Satellite units of the eatery will be opened at various city centres where food cooked at the centralised unit will be supplied. A food delivery unit will also be launched for those who order food from homes and offices. An app will be developed, and loans and subsidies will be offered to purchase vehicles for food delivery, said Ms. Ansiya. A catering unit, Samridhi@kochi catering unit, will also be launched, she added.
The renovation and beautification of public crematoriums in the city at a cost of ₹2 crore, a ₹10-crore project for maintaining and upgrading open spaces, digital mapping of buildings (a project announced in the last budget), strengthening of the Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development at a cost of ₹40 lakh, modernisation of Ernakulam and EMS town halls spending ₹2 crore, and the preparation of a project document for a city hall at Palluruthy at a cost of ₹50 lakh are among the projects announced in the budget.
Mayor M. Anilkumar claimed that the budget announced only projects that could be implemented. The civic administration has taken extra care not to overburden city dwellers who were struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, he said.
Meanwhile, Antony Kureethara, Congress leader in the council, said the budget had only repeated promises made last year. There are no proposals to increase the revenue of the civic body and for poverty alleviation, he said.
The civic administration had repeated the promise of forming a special purpose vehicle for the operation of roll-on roll-off vessels, he pointed out.
