Minister Narayana: TDP to bring back Anna Canteens in 3 weeks
Officials were ordered to submit the estimates in two to three days to carry out the necessary repairs to restore the now dilapidated Anna Canteens
By Sistla Dakshina Murthy Published on 16 Jun 2024 11:35 AM GMT
Amaravati: Anna Canteens would be restored within three weeks across the state to cater to the poor, said minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Ponguru Narayana.
Narayana was speaking at a review meeting at the State Secretariat in Velagapudi on Sunday. He said that the file on the restoration of Anna Canteens was among the first five files to be signed off by chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu after coming to power. Earlier during the TDP regime, steps were taken to establish 203 Anna Canteens of which 184 canteens were opened and the remaining 19 canteens remained under construction, he said.
āAnna Canteens provided meals at Rs 5ā
The MA&UD minister said that the previous YSRCP government had abolished the system of Anna canteens which provided morning breakfast, lunch and dinner for Rs 5 each in a pleasant atmosphere in all prominent centres across the state.
He said that the officials were ordered to submit the estimates in two to three days to carry out the necessary repairs to restore the now dilapidated Anna Canteens
ISKCON handled Anna Canteens earlier
Narayana said that in the past, the responsibility of managing Anna Canteens was given to the ISKCON spiritual organisation and they charged Rs 73 per day for serving three meals a day. But through Anna Canteens, three meals a day are provided for just Rs15 and the remaining Rs 58 is borne by the government as a subsidy. Around 2.25 lakh people eat meals through Anna Canteens every day and during the previous TDP tenure a total of 4.60 plates of food were distributed through Anna Canteens, he added.
The MA&UD minister said that at first these Anna Canteens were set up in the municipal areas and many legislators who noticed that the public support for those canteens asked the then chief minister to set up Anna Canteens in the rural areas as well, and 150 more Anna canteens were allotted to the rural areas as well. Steps would be taken soon with the approval of the chief minister of the state to restore the Anna Canteens, which have received the support of the people on a large scale, he said.
