Rich people make beelines to daal bhaat centres in Ramgarh

N K Agarwal | TNN | Apr 13, 2020, 06:03 IST

Ramgarh: It is not just the poor, but also people from rich, well-to-do families are queuing up before Mukhyamantri Daal Bhaat Kendras for free meals in Ramgarh. Given the large number of people availing the free meals, the district administration on Saturday said it is finding it hard to keep these centres operational due to resource and financial crunch.
Assistant district supply officer Raj Shekhar said, “There are 28 dal bhaat centres, including five in police stations, to provide food to the poor twice daily. However, in remote villages, we are seeing that a lot of rich people, who have palatial homes and tractors are also availing free meals and triggering problems for us to manage the kitchens. As per rules, we cannot deny food to anyone coming here.”
Officials in the district supply department said if the trend continues, then these centres, meant to distribute free meals to migrant and daily wage labourers during the lockdown period, may cease to function because of resource crunch.
Shekhar added, “In some places, our officials have humbly requested the rich people to not come to these centres, but to no avail.”
An official on the condition of anonymity said, “The centres in Gola and Mandu blocks have a capacity to feed 200 persons daily, but their capcity has almost doubled in the recent times and it is difficult to make allotment of for food. The situation is such that in many villages, the entire population is coming for free food at these centres to avoid hassles of cooking at their homes and save their ration.”