Atal Canteens to come up near slum clusters, construction sites: CM

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta plans to set up Atal Canteens to provide affordable meals for the city's residents.

Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government aims to provide food for every citizen in Delhi, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday announced a plan to soon set up Atal Canteens near slum clusters and construction sites in the city.

Launching Atal Canteens in the Capital was one of the poll promises by the BJP in the run-up to the February 5 Assembly election. In its first budget, the BJP government led by Ms. Gupta has allocated ₹100 crore to set up these canteens at 100 locations across the city. Atal Canteen, established in several States, is aimed at providing nutritious meals for only ₹5 to persons from economically weaker sections.

The CM visited a temple in north-west Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh, her home constituency, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. She unveiled an automatic chapati-maker machine that can prepare at least 1,200 rotis in an hour.

“We must open 100 Atal Canteens so that no one remains hungry in Delhi. We are planning to start these canteens near slum areas and construction sites where such automatic roti machines will be installed to provide food,” the CM said, adding that the automatic chapati-maker at the temple will help run a daily ‘anna seva’ for feeding the poor and needy.

After visiting another temple in Karol Bagh, she said, “I prayed that the demonic forces should return to wherever they belong and a positive energy to work for Delhi.”