Looks like the troubles for the Congress party won’t end anytime soon. In the latest setback, their flagship program of Indira canteens, aimed at emulating the popularity of the Amma canteens of Tamil Nadu, turned out to be a disaster, with lab reports confirming that the food prepared in these canteens is unfit for consumption.
A food sample test was recently conducted by the Ramaiah advanced testing laboratory and Public Health Institute in Bengaluru. Conducted on food samples from various Indira canteens located at Mudalapalya, Jaya Nagar, JP Nagar, Byatarayanapura, Nagapura wards respectively, the samples were found to be unfit for consumption.
For those unaware, Indira Canteens were launched by the previous Karnataka government, headed by Siddaramaiah in 2017. It aimed to provide good food at extremely cheap rates, in order to reduce the malaise of malnutrition and hunger. The idea was itself borrowed from the much popular Amma Canteens of Tamil Nadu, launched by the deceased chief of AIADMK, J. Jayalalithaa, which provided quality food at extremely cheap rates to one and all but was never found to be unfit for consumption.
However, it looks like the initiative hasn’t achieved the desired results. The study on the food samples was brought to notice by BJP corporator Umesh Shetty. To quote his statement to the press, “The food given to Pourakarmikas from the Indira canteen is not safe. After testing this in two laboratories, it is found there are harmful bacteria in the food which may cause various health issues.”
He further added, “The cleanliness is also not maintained by the Indira Canteens. More than 16,000 Pourakarmikas are given Indira canteen food. The State government should immediately take action against the Contractors who are responsible for preparing the bad quality food.”
When asked about the same, Deputy CM of Karnataka, G. Parmeshwara responded, “I have directed the BBMP Commissioner to check the quality of food provided in all Indira canteen in 198 wards immediately. If the food quality is found to be adulterated, we will take action against the contractors.”
This further proves that for Congress, things like ethics and good governance are mere rhetoric. In their quest to capture power by any means, they won’t hesitate to put the lives of thousands of people in peril, if need be. The poor quality of food and hygiene at Indira canteens therefore comes as no surprise. However, this is clearly not acceptable now and we hope that the voters teach an unforgettable lesson to Congress for jeopardizing the lives of many with such corruption in Indira canteens.