At Rs 23 a plate, Iskcon to supply 20,000 pourakarmika meals

Touchstone Foundation, a non-profit organisation run by Iskcon, is likely to get the contract to provide meals to about 20,000 municipal workers on the BBMP’s payroll.

The Urban Development Department (UDD) — armed with the Finance Department’s approval — plans to contract the nonprofit under section 4(G) of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act. This means it doesn’t have to invite tenders.

Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, UDD, said the decision to award the contract without floating tenders was taken after obtaining the Finance Department’s approval. “It’s a tested organisation. It would be paid Rs 23 for each plate,” he told DH.

The per-plate cost payable to Touchstone Foundation is Rs 3 more than what Indira Canteen operators charge for each meal they provided to municipal workers. The additional cost will increase the BBMP’s annual expenditure to Rs 16.70 crore, up by Rs 2.19 crore.

BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said the decision to change the service providers was taken following complaints about the quality of food supplied by Indira Canteen suppliers.

Muthylappa, a veteran pourakarmika, said the quality of food provided by Indira Canteen was not consistent. “We are served bisi bele bath, anna sambar, mosaranna (curd rice) and pulav on different days of the week. The food is distributed around 8 am. On some days, the quality is good but there are days when it’s bad,” he said.

The Finance Department is learnt to have initially rejected the UDD’s proposal seeking the 4(G) exemption because it didn’t come with the BBMP’s opinion. But the UDD succeeded the second time.

A spokesperson for Iskcon said they would be happy to serve meals as per the conditions prescribed by the government. “We always want to serve nutritious and tasty food. But the government is yet to give its consent in writing,” the spokesperson added.

While Iskcon’s Touchstone Foundation had partnered with the government to supply meals to migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, its other offspring Akshaya Patra supplies around two lakhs of midday meals to schoolchildren in Bengaluru.

Previous controversy

It’s not the first time that Touchstone Foundation is being roped in to supply food to municipal workers. The BBMP had previously tied up with Iskcon in 2016 to supply meals to municipal workers but contracted the Indira Canteen operators the next year following complaints that the food supplied by Iskcon wasn’t nutritious.