Recently, the NDA government has grandly relaunched the Anna Canteens in Andhra Pradesh. The TDP government initially started this project during their rule from 2014-19.
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The TDP government first introduced Anna Canteens in July 2018, with a total of 183 canteens operating well until July 2019. However, after the YCP came to power, all these canteens were shut down.
During this year’s election campaign, the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance promised to restart Anna Canteens if they come into power.
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Keeping up his promise, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu successfully relaunched the canteens across the state within two months of assuming power.
In the first phase, 100 Anna Canteens were reopened across the state. Despite the increase in the prices of raw materials, the government decided to continue offering nutritious meals for just Rs. 5, the same rate as before.
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Currently, the government is providing a subsidy of Rs. 78.75 lakhs for an average of 1.05 lakh plates of food served three times a day at these 100 canteens.
On average, the government is spending Rs. 19.68 crore in subsidies every month and Rs. 236.25 crore annually for the 100 Anna Canteens.
Soon, the government plans to open 103 more in the next phase. It is expected that 2.13 lakh people will be served daily across the 203 canteens.
Eventually, the government will need to bear a daily subsidy of Rs. 1.59 crore, a monthly subsidy of Rs. 39.96 crore, and an annual subsidy of Rs. 479 crore.
Despite the huge financial burden, the NDA government has not hesitated to restart the Anna Canteens, to provide healthy food to the poor.
Meanwhile, the Anna Charitable Trust has been established to collect funds for operating these canteens. Nara Bhuvaneshwari has already donated Rs. 1 crore to the trust. Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Developers also contributed Rs. 1 crore and has pledged to donate Rs. 1 crore every year.
The trust’s website will be launched in a few days. Once the website is live, more funds are expected to be received from the public.
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