Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders have taken exception to the BJP government in Karnataka reducing the funding for Indira Canteens which were started during their regime to feed the urban poor.
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Both Mr. Siddaramaiah and AICC in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala took to Twitter, tagging an article published by The Hindu on Friday. (“Indira Canteen, meant to feed urban poor, is now starved of funds”).
Mr. Surjewala wrote, “The story of cheating the Urban Poor... because they can’t get 40% commission”, making a reference to allegations of kickbacks demanded by people’s representatives that Karnataka Contractors’ Association has made.
In his tweet, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “By starving funds to #IndiraCanteens started by INC govt, @BJP4Karnataka is also pushing poor people. From ₹145 crore in 2018-19, the funds for Indira Canteen is reduced to ₹60 crore. About 300-400 people used to come to Indira Canteens during our government, but now it is reduced to 50-100. @BJP4Karnataka’s ploy is to cite this drop in numbers to close down the canteens. In reality, the drop is due to fall in quality of the food served.”