125 Indira Canteens to be opened on August 15

Bengaluru: With the task of establishing 198 Indira Canteens by Independence Day becoming increasingly tough, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Friday, revised the target. As per the revised target, 125 canteens will open on August 15 and the remaining 73 on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi).

The climb down from the earlier target to start all 198 canteens by I-Day was because of the non-availability of suitable sites for canteens in 16 wards. That apart, of the 87 sites owned by various other government departments identified to build canteens, the civic body has till date got only 36 sites, with 51 more sites yet to be handed over.

“We are 25 days away from the I-Day deadline; we haven’t even got possession of 67 sites yet, which will make building the canteens August 15 an uphill task,” said Manoj Rajan, Special Commissioner heading Indira Canteen Special Task Force.

Siddaramaiah, who chaired a multi-agency meeting on Friday over the issue, took to task officials from various departments who were yet to hand over proposed sites for the canteens. A total of 23 departments are yet to hand over these sites to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). He issued stern orders to hand over these sites within the next three days. He also reviewed the progress of work on canteens and procurement of equipment and caterers.