No ID required at Indira Canteens to get free food: BBMP chief

BENGALURU: After Indira canteen staffers came under fire for seeking identity cards from those wanting to avail the state government’s free food scheme, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said no such ID was required. Staffers of many Indira canteens across the city were seen noting down details of those visiting to collect food packets along with phone numbers and identity cards with many staffers even turning away many poor, famished citizens for not having ID cards and phone numbers.

While in some places, citizens came forward to help the destitute, labourers, migrant workers and the poor who were being denied food packets due to the non-availability of ID cards, in other places media highlighted the issue drawing the attention of officials. The process was to keep track of how many food packets were being distributed and to avoid duplicity. Within hours, the BBMP commissioner said officials had been intimated that no such demands for ID cards, photos or phone numbers should be made while distributing food packets. 

“No identification proof/mobile numbers of beneficiary is required for distribution of food packets to poor people, migrants and workers at Indira Canteens. Officials have been instructed the same during my visit to Indira Kitchen this morning. #BBMP is committed to help everyone in need,” Gaurav Gupta announced via his social media pages. 

Earlier, the commissioner visited Indira Canteens in the city to check the quality and process of distributing free food packets to the poor. Gupta even ate at one of the Indira kitchens to check the quality. “The food packets will be distributed freely until the end of lockdown. There are 15 Indira Canteen kitchens in the city. The food prepared in these kitchens will be taken to the Indira Canteens and served to the beneficiaries. BBMP aims to distribute three lakh packets a day comprising three meal packets per day for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Gupta added.