Delhi residents will soon be able to enjoy hot, cooked meals at a very low cost. The Delhi government is launching Atal Canteens, where meals will be available for just ₹5. This initiative is inspired by Tamil Nadu's Amma Canteens, which offers affordable food to the public.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced this plan while presenting the Delhi Budget earlier this week. To start, 100 canteens will be set up in slum areas, and the government has set aside ₹100 crore for the project. Currently, Delhi has around 700 slum clusters, both big and small. 

These Atal Canteens in Delhi are being set up to provide subsidized, nutritious meals to the economically weaker sections. The initiative, introduced in honour of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth centenary, aims to improve food security for low-income groups.

The plan was a key promise in the BJP's Delhi election manifesto and is the first of its kind in the capital. Each canteen will serve affordable meals, ensuring that slum dwellers and the poor can access hot, nutritious food without financial strain.

This, however, is not the BJP’s first initiative of this nature. Four years ago, Atal Kisan Mazdoor Canteens were set up in Haryana's mandis (markets) to provide low-cost meals for farmers and labourers. These canteens serve a plate of chapatis, rice, dal, and vegetables for just ₹10, with around 30 such outlets currently running across the state.

This initiative in Delhi takes inspiration from Tamil Nadu’s Amma Canteens, launched by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2013. Due to their massive popularity, the number of canteens quickly expanded from 15 to 200 within just three months.

The key feature of Amma Canteens was their extremely low prices: idlis for ₹1, curd rice for ₹3, and sambar rice for ₹5. These canteens also provided employment to women from self-help groups, who prepared and served the food. The scheme was continued by the MK Stalin-led DMK government, and today, Tamil Nadu has over 400 such subsidized food outlets.

Scheme in other states

Encouraged by the success of Amma Canteens, several other states launched similar initiatives. In 2016, the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government introduced Anna Canteens, offering three meals a day at ₹5 each. Similarly, in 2017, the Congress-led Karnataka government set up Indira Canteens in Bengaluru. They serve pongal or vegetable pulao for ₹5 at breakfast, while rice, sambar, a vegetable dish, and curd are available for ₹10 at lunch and dinner.

Now, Delhi's Atal Canteens aim to follow the same model, ensuring affordable and nutritious meals for the city's underprivileged residents.

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