The Karnataka Congress’ flagship Indira Canteen programme, a subsidized food venture scheme opened in 2017, is once again under the scanner over alleged bribery allegations. According to a report by Republic TV, Congress’ Siddaramaiah pet project is marred with a fresh controversy as it is alleged that the commissioners of the scheme have been demanding bribes to clear bills of the contractors. At the heart of the controversy are three canteens situated in Karnataka’s Haveri, Hirekerur and Ranebennur districts.
According to the report, the officials overseeing the Haveri and Ranebennur municipal corporation and Hirekerur panchayat were demanding bribes from canteen operators to clear their pending bills. Despite repeated requests to clear the bills, the government officials refused to release the payments which had exceeded Rs 35 lakhs over the last one-year period.
The shocking allegation that they have been under constant pressure to pay commissions in exchange for remittance of their bills has been made by Vishwanath Reddy Darshanapura, the secretary of Nirmaladevi Mahila Mandal, located in Shahapur, Yadgir district, which runs these three Indira canteens in question on a contractual basis. The contractor has filed a complaint to the DC.
Meanwhile, speaking to Republic TV, Mamata Hosagud, an officer of the District Urban Development Cell of Haveri refuted the allegations. “The bribe being demanded by commissioners is false. These are baseless allegations. If he has any proof let him give it. I will investigate the matter. I will issue notices to both the commissioners of Haveri and Ranebennur. I will also ask them to appear for questioning that an enquiry will be held. Notice will be served to City municipal commissioners. This will be sorted out within a week,” she said.
Indira Canteen Commission rocks Karnataka: "The bribe being demanded by commissioners is false. These are baseless allegations. If he has any proof let him give it. I will investigate the matter. I will issue notices to both the commissioners of Haveri and Ranebennur. I will also… pic.twitter.com/h9BO126S1I
— Republic (@republic) October 19, 2023
Karnataka Congress’s Indira Canteen scheme and other controversies surrounding it
Taking a cue from Amma Canteen in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the then Congress government led by Siddaramaiah started the Indira Canteens in Bengaluru on August 15, 2018, ahead of the 2018 assembly polls. These canteens offered breakfast at Rs 5 and meals twice a day at Rs 10 per plate in the afternoon and night.
The Karnataka government’s Ministry of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs runs the Indira Canteen program runs the Karnataka Indira Canteen programme and it is overseen by the municipal corporations or panchayats in the respective areas and districts. The contract to run the Indira Canteen is handed over to different operators, who, in turn, provide food to the public on subsidised food. The government of the state allocates funds for these subsidized canteens.
Only a few months after the scheme was launched, Karnataka’s Congress’ pet project landed in trouble after allegations of discrepancies in subsidies issued to the canteen contractors surfaced. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had awarded the contract of running 174 Indira Canteens and 15 mobile canteens to two companies – Cheftalk Food & Hospitality Services Pvt Ltd and Rewards. According to a letter written to the Chief Secretary by the then Chief Minister, the state government was paying the two contractors Rs 6,82,82,373 in the form of subsidies.
The government officials suspected the two companies had overstated the number of customers. Reportedly, the irregularities arose when Cheftalk and Rewards began billing the same amount every month.
In addition, sources in the government said that the state government mulled over changing the contractors for the canteens. The 2019-2020 budget had not allocated any funds for the Indira Canteens and the previous government led by HD Kumaraswamy had instructed BBMP to bear the costs.
Additionally, in 2018, when the programme kickstarted, former BJP corporator N R Ramesh alleged that CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who was also CM at that time, and K J George, who is currently serving as Cabinet Minister of Energy in the Government of Karnataka, were involved in a scam during the construction of Indira Canteens across the city.
As the project involved the construction of a canteen in each ward, Ramesh alleged that the government has shown bills worth Rs 19 lakh for the construction of each canteen, while the actual cost was just Rs 9 lakh. Ramesh also filed a complaint against Siddaramaiah and George before the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Later, however, Karnataka Lokayukta dropped the names of Siddaramaiah and K J George, from the complaint about irregularities in Indira Canteens received by it. The names were dropped due to the lack of proof and evidence.
