After city, food for Rs 10 turns out to be a big hit in Panchkula

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 31

Less than a month after Chandigarh took the lead in the country by introducing food for all at Rs 10, the first-of-its-kind food scheme has become a big hit in Panchkula as well.

Replicating the brainchild of her husband, UT Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ajit Balaji Joshi, Panchkula DC Gauri Parasher Joshi took only 10 days in launching the scheme in her district. Gauri took over the reins of Panchkula on January 16 and successfully rolled out food for all at Rs 10 on Republic Day. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar did the honours to make Panchkula the first district in Haryana to feed the needy at the “most economical price”.

Christened “Antyodaya Aahar Yojana”, the food scheme has set up the kitchen at a temporary structure in the gaushala at the Mata Mansa Devi shrine complex. Machines are used for almost all cooking purposes, right from chopping of vegetables and kneading dough to preparing chapattis.

A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been spent on setting up the kitchen, equipment and vehicles required for the project so far. Interestingly, the government has spent not even a single penny on the project, which is fully funded by donations from various social and religious organisations while the Indian Red Cross Society is running the project.

“The motive behind the scheme is to feed labourers and other needy people, who do hard physical work and are exhausted by the end of the day. Cheap, hygienic and nutritional food reaches them when they are left with no energy to go and cook it,” the DC told The Tribune.

She said the challenge would be to constantly supervise and inspect the entire project so that the standard and quality remained intact.