LPG shortage forces four Atal Canteens to shut, city’s poor lose their subsidised Rs

Delhi Govt’s flagship welfare scheme was launched on December 25 last year.

It's about the dignity of the poor, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had said
On December 25, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated the first Atal Canteen at Pratap Camp in Nehru Nagar in South Delhi, where people could get wholesome meals for lunch and dinner for just Rs 5.

On Monday afternoon, this canteen was shut – put out of service by the war in West Asia and the ongoing crisis of cooking fuel.

At least two other Atal Canteens – in Kalkaji and Anna Nagar near ITO – were also shut.

A handwritten note stuck on the door of the canteen in Kalkaji said: “Canteen band gas aane tak (The canteen will stay shut until gas arrives).”
Forty-five Atal Canteens were inaugurated on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last year.

The government subsequently ramped up the number to 73 – and aims to have a total 100 such canteens across the city.

The canteens serve lunch from 11.30 am to 2 pm, and dinner from 6.30 pm to 9 pm.

There is rice, roti, dal, a vegetable, and a pickle.

But at the last meal the canteens in Nehru Nagar, Kalkaji, and Anna Nagar served on Saturday evening, there was just rice and dal.

Forty-six-year-old labourer Satya Mandal, who lives in Jal Vihar, told The Indian Express that when he went to have lunch at Nehru Nagar on Monday, the canteen’s caretaker, Seema Karosiya (28), had told him there was no food, and that he should come back to check later.

“The day before yesterday was the last time I could eat here,” Mandal said.

“But it was only rice and dal.

I come here because it is cheap, and I spend only Rs 10 for my meals.

Since yesterday, I have been eating at a hotel.”
Mandal said he could not cook his meals – his cylinder of gas was empty, and LPG was selling in the black market for Rs 300 a kg.

Karosiya said she had turned away at least 200 people over Sunday and Monday.

Rickshaw drivers, labourers, and daily-wage workers are regulars at the canteen, but over the last week or so, many others who no longer had cooking gas or could not afford to refill their cylinders had also started visiting the canteen, she said.

P K Jha, principal director of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the organisation that is responsible for implementing the government’s welfare scheme, said that four Atal Canteens – the three visited by The Indian Express and a fourth one in R K Puram – were shut because the catering agency that operates them had run out of gas.

This contractor has a commercial gas connection, to which supply has been restricted by the government in an effort to ensure uninterrupted supply to households.

“This agency did not have a subsidised connection of the kind other caterers have.

We are working on this, and services in these canteens will resume shortly,” Jha said.

“We also had a meeting with the oil marketing companies, and they have assured there won’t be a shortage of gas for the canteens.

The department has written to all District Magistrates of Delhi asking them to ensure that the canteens run smoothly,” he said.

Opening the Atal Canteen last year, Chief Minister Gupta had said the government’s intention was to ensure that people could eat with dignity.

In an interview to The Indian Express earlier this month, she had said the Atal Canteen had given her enormous personal satisfaction.

“Lakhs of people come to Delhi with their hopes and dreams.

They work very hard.

I feel great satisfaction when I see people can afford a full meal,” she had said.

Officials said 45,000 meals are served for lunch and dinner daily at the Atal Canteens around the city.

The caterer responsible for running the four canteens that have been shut for the past two days said: “We need 7-8 cylinders of LPG every day.

We have not been getting this supply now.

We had applied for a PNG connection before the inauguration, but this has not happened yet.”
Outside the Kalkaji canteen, 45-year-old Babar Ali said that after skipping three meals, he had finally spent Rs 300 to get a kg of LPG for his cylinder.

“I hope the canteen reopens soon,” he said.

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