In House canteen, MPs have roti for Rs 1, dal fry for Rs 3 Govt dishes out Rs 3.27 lakh per day as subsidyAmit Khajuria/TNS
Jammu, July 28
The Parliament canteen could have been the birthplace of the notion, which some Congress leaders recently voiced, that a meal could be had for Rs 5 or Rs 12. A reply to an RTI application has revealed that the Centre doles out a subsidy of Rs 3.27 lakh per day to the Parliament canteen that provides sumptuous meals to parliamentarians. This amounts to Rs 11.94 crore per year.
So don’t feel transported back in time to the early 1990s when some MP tells you about having a ‘dosa’ for Rs 4. But this rate features on the menu of the Indian Parliament canteen that is run by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd.
On May 14, Jammu-based RTI activist Raman Sharma had written to Public Information Officer (PIO), Lok Sabha Secretariat, about the rate list of eatables and the subsidy given by the government to run the canteen.
In reply, K Sona, Under-Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat, vide letter No. 1(588)IC/13, dated: July 3, informed that the government paid Rs 11.94 crore in financial year 2011-12 as subsidy to the IRCTC to run the canteen where a parliamentarian gets ‘shami kabab’ for Rs 14, ‘rumali roti’ (‘chapati’) for Re 1, ‘dal fry’ for Rs 3 and pizza for Rs 20.
The rate list of the canteen has only been revised thrice in 13 years. In view of the rising prices of eatables in the outside world, the subsidy has been going up constantly. In 2000-01, the subsidy to the same canteen was Rs 2 crore. The last revision to the price list was done in December 2010.
“The government talks about pruning subsidy bills. It has also put a cap on domestic LPG. But why don’t they put a cap on their own canteen subsidy?” asks Raman Sharma.
“Every bite that a parliamentarian takes in that canteen reduces ‘chapatis’ on the plate of the poor in the country,” the RTI activist said. “If they can provide eatables to parliamentarians at this rate, then shouldn’t they also run such canteens at old age homes, orphanages, for BPL category persons and in schools and colleges?”http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130729/nation.htm#14