Finally Some Good News, Poor In Haryana To Get Meal For Rs 10 From Mid-February

Starting mid-February, the poor people in the district will be able to buy a meal at Rs 10 a plate. The state government is going to start 5 canteens in Haryana including 2 in Gurugram where subsidised meal will be served. The move will benefit about 2.5 lakh labourers in the district as well as others under 'Antodaya Aahar Bhojan Yojana'.

On February 15, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will inaugurate 5 canteens - 2 in Gurugram and one each in Faridabad, Yamunanagar and Hisar. In Gurugram, the canteens will be built near Bhooteshwar Temple and Bhim Nagar.

The focus here is to ensure availability of cheaper food for labourers who work in the unorganised sector, like construction. The state government also plans to open canteens, which will have a unified IT backbone allowing migrant workers to access to subsidised food at several locations across Haryana.

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On Sunday, Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, Additional Labour Commissioner Naresh Narwal and OSD to CM Captain Bhupinder Singh visited the sites proposed to build the canteens in Gurgaon.

The canteens were announced by the chief minister on September 17 last year on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The same day, a canteen was launched in Sonipat. However, the one in Gurugram got delayed.

Initially, the subsidised eateries serving meal at a cost of Rs 10 were to be launched in the district last year but the process got delayed. In fact, on Sunday, OSD Singh rebuked officials from the labour department for the delay in the procedure.

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"This is the state government's one of the important projects and the delay in this has been not been appreciated," said Singh.

The subsidised eateries are on the lines of Amma Canteens which were started in Tamil Nadu in 2013. There are now over 200 outlets across the southern state, where anyone can get an idli for Re 1 and a plate of curd rice for Rs 3 or a full meal of sambhar rice for as little as Rs 5.

Explaining the concept, Additional Labour Commissioner Naresh Narwal said, "it is open to all poor for a cost of Rs 10. However, it will cost us Rs 20. Account will be maintained for who all are availing the facility.

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The poor will pay Rs 10 on their part, and the remaining Rs 10 of the subsidy for the industrial labour will be paid by the labour welfare board, construction labours will be subsidised by BOCW and for general poor public subsidy will be funded by the food and supply department."

This will ensure that floating unskilled manpower in the state is provided the most basic necessity. As registered labourers would be able to walk into any of these canteens to be served hot food, the data generated would also help the government look at issues like workers' migration patterns and volume of economic activity in a particular part of the state.