Saffron outfits ask 'Kanwariyas' to scan QR codes to verify ownership of eateries on yatra route in UP

Lucknow: Saffron outfits in Uttar Pradesh have asked the ‘kanwariyas’ (devotees carrying pitchers filled with Ganga waters to be offered at Shiva temples during the Hindu month of Shravana), to scan the QR codes to verify the religion of the owners of the eateries.

The move comes amid controversies arising out of saffron activists’ alleged attempt to strip the staff at an eatery on the ‘kanwar yatra’ route in Uttar Pradesh, apparently to verify his religion and the state government’s directive for the eateries to display the names of their owners.

The governments of UP and Uttarakhand have directed that the eateries on the kanwar yatra routes must possess valid food licenses and that eateries found to be operating without the same would be acted against.

Besides, the officials of the food department have been pasting stickers of QR codes on the eateries along the 540 kilometer Kanwar Yatra route stretching from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar, reports said. The QR codes will have the name of the eatery owners and its address.

The officials said that they had also launched a Food Connectivity App for the devotees. The devotees can lodge complaints regarding food through this food connectivity app. ‘’Prompt action will be taken on the complaints registered through the App,’’ said an official.

According to the reports, the saffron activists have been pasting pictures of Hindu deities, especially that of ‘varaha’ (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu), and hoisting saffron flags on the eateries they deem ‘Hindu friendly’.

The opposition parties have slammed the state government for these measures and said that they were nothing but attempts to divert the attention of the people from more pressing issues like unemployment and others.

The BJP has defended the move saying that the devotees have a right to know where they are having their food. ‘’It is essential to maintain the sanctity of the kanwar yatra,’’ said a BJP leader here.

Barely a few days back the members of a saffron outfit allegedly attempted to strip the staff of an eatery apparently to verify his religion. A saffron outfit, under the leadership of Swami Yashveer Maharaj, has deployed hundreds of its members to check if there was any roadside eatery on the Yatra route which had a Hindu name but was operated by a Muslim.

The kanwar yatra will begin from July 11.