Even as the State moves towards a lockdown from Saturday, the Kudumbashree mission is set to launch its 100th Janakeeya hotel in Thiruvananthapuram district.
The Janakeeya hotels were included in the State budget for 2020-21 by Minister for Finance T.M. Thomas Isaac as part of the Hunger-free Kerala programme. Inspired by the success of similar initiatives in Alappuzha district, the hotels’ goal was to provide affordable meals to the common man. Envisaged as Kudumbashree enterprises, the hotels provide food for ₹20-25.
During the lockdown last year, the Janakeeya hotels emerged successors to the community kitchens started by local self-government institutions to feed the masses. Home delivery did much to boost their popularity. They continued to operate even after the phased easing of restrictions.
As demand increased, so did their numbers. The 100th Janakeeya hotel is all set for inauguration at Murinjapalam, opposite Cosmopolitan hospital, on Monday by former Mayor and now MLA V.K. Prasanth. This exceeds the government target for the Janakeeya hotels in the district by 20. There are 71 hotels in the rural areas of the district and 29 in the urban areas, including 18 in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation limits alone.
In many places, local self-government institutions and the people turn to Janakeeya hotels to ensure food for those living alone or the destitute. Food is also provided by the hotels to COVID-19 patients at their place of request.
The hotels have been able to provide a livelihood to nearly 1,000 Kudumbashree women, thus improving their financial security. Tho hotels in urban limits have an average income of ₹4.5 lakh a month, while it is ₹1.5 lakh for the hotels in the rural areas.
The hotel opposite SMV school at Overbridge in the city sells up to 1,000 food parcels a day, making it the the Janakeeya hotel with maximum sales in the district.
Vegetables and grocery needed by the hotels is provided by microenterprises (ME) functioning under the Kudumbashree, thereby ensuring an income for them too.
The Kudumbashree provides the hotels ₹10 as subsidy for a meal. The buildings for the hotels are arranged by the local self-government concerned. A revolving fund of ₹50,000 is given to each Kudumbashree community development society for meeting the initial expense for the hotels.
Kudumbashree District Mission coordinator K.R. Shaiju says the Janakeeya hotels will remain open during the lockdown, and they will deliver food to houses till it remains in effect. Free food for the most needy will be given away from the new Janakeeya hotel at Murinjapalam from 1 p.m. every day.