80-year-old remains waiting at closed Indira canteen in Bengaluru

Although it was initially announced that Indira Canteens would be open to dole out free food for the homeless and the needy, their closures on Wednesday have left many in the lurch.

Among these was an 80-year-old rickshaw driver, Venkata Raju, a native of Tyagrajnagar, said that he had been waiting for several hours for the Indira Canteen in Jayanagar to open, in the hopes of getting lunch.

Raju, who said he was a widower who lived alone in a small room without a kitchen, said that he had been reduced to a diet of biscuits and water following the closure of the canteens.

Chief Minister Yediyurappa said on Tuesday that the intention had been to use the canteens to offer meals to the needy, but that the canteens were closed after they started to become swamped with people.

“There was no question of maintaining social distancing at the canteens. That is why they were closed,” he said.

The government should arrange to give people parcelled food, Raju said.