'Indira Canteen', aimed at serving the poor at subsidised rates, was inaugurated in Bengaluru on Wednesday by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
Mr. Gandhi, who had the first breakfast at the canteen in Jayanagar, said 'Indira Canteens' would serve the migrants who came to Bengaluru with a dream to build something. “No person in Bengaluru should ever go hungry and the canteens are a great means towards it,” he said, asking the government to give much attention to cleanliness and taste.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that Indira Canteens was a continuation of the Congress's commitment to a hunger-free Karnataka.
“We started Anna Bhagya scheme by giving 7 kg of rice free to over 4 crore people the very day we came to power. To its credit, the scheme is stemming mass migration from our villages despite severe drought in the last three years. Not a single hunger related death has been reported in the State despite severe drought. Indira Canteens is only a continuation of that programme,” he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said the programme would be extended to all district centres across the State. Only those who knew hunger would know its pain and opposition by the rich and those who do not understand hunger was irrelevant. “Those who oppose the programme are anti-poor and anti-downtrodden.”
Responding to criticism on naming the canteens after Indira Gandhi, he said the canteens were aptly named after the leader who gave a rousing call to the nation in 1971 to eradicate poverty: “garibi hathao.” That was her response to her opponents calling for “Indira hathao.” ''Our response to our opponents is also similar.''
The Chief Minister came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Demonetisation had failed to help the poor. “From the past three years it's only his Mann ki Baat that's going on. Our’s is vaangi baath for the poor,” he said.
