Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is set to revive the Annapurna food kiosks offering low-price meals across its limits.
In a meeting chaired by the GHMC commissioner K Ilambarithi on Saturday, February 22, a special committee was formed to inspect the minimum facilities and food conditions for the revival of Annapurna kiosks.
GHMC chief engineer Bhaskar Reddy was appointed as the head of the committee and additional commissioners Pankaja of the health department and Venugopal Reddy of the advertisement department were appointed as its members.
The special committee members, on Saturday, inspected the Annapurna kiosk at the Mint compound, behind the BR Ambedkar Secretariat building, in line with the directives of the GHMC Commissioner.
The committee members had lunch at the kiosk, expressing satisfaction with the food quality served there. The officials also inspected the condition of the Annapurna canteens at two other sites near Lakdikapul, directing engineers to undertake repairs to revive the kiosks.
Special committee chief Bhaskar Reddy said that a team of engineers would be deputed to report on the condition of the canteens at various places under the GHMC limits.
GHMC to set up Annapurna ‘Rs 5/meal’ canteens with seating
Annapurna food scheme
The Annapurna Food Scheme has been the Telangana Government’s flagship food program since 2014, providing food to the urban poor, especially daily wage workers in Hyderabad.
The state government is speeding up efforts to bring back Annapurna food kiosks wherever they are defunct, to provide meals at Rs 5, to reduce urban food insecurity.
Through the Annapurna food kiosks, the government aims to offer nutritious food at an affordable price of Rs 5. A meal at the kiosk would include rice, sambar, curry, and pickle.
As many as 150 such Annapurna canteens were established in 2014 under the GHMC limits, serving around 45,000 meals every day in 2022.
Many of these Annapurna canteens are defunct now, which would soon be revived by the state government and GHMC, according to an official statement.
According to a case study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Hyderabad, these canteens help governments mitigate challenges posed by a higher rate of informal employment and rising food inflation.
Sorry condition of Annapurna kiosk in Lakdikapul
The Annapurna canteen located at the Lakdikapul Junction has been in a deplorable condition for months, remaining defunct while its premises have been subjected to open urination by the public.
The Lakdikapul junction hosts a large number of homeless migrants and destitute people. With them often resorting to taking alms to find food, while the Annapurna kiosk being shut with the smell of urine reeking at its premises contradicts the government’s objective of helping the urban poor.
With the governmental measures now accelerating the revival of Annapurna kiosks, GHMC has a larger task at its shoulders to not just reopen the kiosks, but also to keep its premises clean, and safeguard it from open defecation.
