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The West Bengal government on Monday launched a new scheme called 'Maa' to provide subsidised cooked meal to the poor across the state at just ₹5. The state government will bear a subsidy of ₹15 per plate.
Flagging off the programme virtually across the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the canteens will serve cooked meals comprising of rice, dal, vegetables and egg curry every day. She said that the kitchens will be run by self-help groups and the canteens will be open from 1 pm to 3 pm everyday.
"This new initiative is for the common people. Though we give free rations there is still a huge demand for cooked food. Therefore, we are starting these community kitchens," she said.
On the first day, 'Maa' canteens were operationalised across 27 areas in Kolkata and other districts and the state government plans to set up such kitchens everywhere in the state gradually. The state's budget tabled by the Chief Minister in the Legislative Assembly earlier this month had allotted ₹100 crore for this scheme.
Political observers said the scheme is one of the many initiatives launched by the government ahead of the polls. Elections for 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are slated to take place this year.
The Chief Minister also launched four Information and Technology ( IT) parks of Webel and a 100-bed Mother and Child hub at the Chittaranjan Seva Sadan Hospital in Kolkata.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the need for providing subsidised kitchens highlights the distress in which the people of the State are in. "The Chief Minister had kept people hungry and poor like beggars," he said.
Source: thehindu.com, indiatoday.in, timesnownews.com
Written by Siddhant Sharma
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