Govt withdraws free food at Indira Canteen over misuse

Free food being given at Indira Canteens amidst the COVID-19 outbreak will be discontinued because of misuse.

"There are concerns about the quality and quantity of the food at the Indira canteens. People would fill autos with 100 packets to 200 free packets of food. This was brought to the notice of the commissioner. However, food that was previously given at a nominal price will continue as usual," said S Suresh Kumar, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and spokesperson for COVID-19 in Karnataka, informed reporters here on Friday.

The minister said there was no shortage of food supplies in the state.

Sufficient stock of food grains, fruits and vegetables:

The minister assured that there is no shortage of food supplies in the state. 26,23,116 quintals of rice is currently in stock in the state. 1,32,539 quintals of wheat is also in stock in the state as of today." Ragi and jowar are available in sufficient quantities in the state. There is no shortage of green gram, bengal gram and tur dal in the state. Fruits and vegetables are sufficient in enough quantities in the state. Wherever there is an excess, we will give it to food processing units in the state," Kumar said.

450 HOPCOMS outlets are there in the state. Everyday 400 tonnes to 450 tonnes sale of fruits and vegetables is happening in the state. "In addition to the 220 HOPCOMS stores in Bengaluru, via 40 mobile vans, we are selling 120 tonnes of fruits and vegetables," he said.

Shivamogga has 28 mobile vans of fruits and vegetables, Belagavi has 40, and other districts have 40 vans each, Kumar said.