Atal Jan Aahar Yojana: Queue for Rs 10 thali as scheme starts in south Delhi

The menu offers puri, chapattis, rice, rajma, vegetables, chhole and halwa. It says one of these items will be served daily.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi buys the Atal Jan Ahaar Yojna lunch at the inauguration on Monday. Express Photo by Abhinav Saha

At 2 pm, a swarm of people gathered outside a stall next to Green Park Metro station, waiting for their turn to get the Rs 10 thali — part of the Atal Jan Aahar Yojana launched by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Monday. Those waiting in the queue had come from diverse backgrounds — corporate officials to mechanics, autorickshaw drivers, rickshaw pullers as well as relatives of patients admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS).

While some had read about the launch in the newspapers, others just followed the crowd. Rahul Kumar, 18, who works as a mechanic at a garage near Uphaar cinema, enjoyed his meal with his friends.

“I read in the newspaper that the SDMC will be providing a thali for just Rs 10. We immediately dropped our plan to go to the nearby hotel for lunch as we end up spending around Rs 30 for a plate there,” he said, adding that “the food is tasty. Nowhere you will get rice, chhole, puri and halwa for Rs 10.”

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Pritam Sah, who works as a delivery boy at a medical store, said, “Today is the first day. BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi came for the inauguration… the quality is good. We hope it does not deteriorate.”

Besides Green Park, the SDMC launched the Yojana at four other places in the capital — Okhla Mandi, Matiala Chowk, Ghode wala Mandir in Raghubir Nagar and Kakraula More. The scheme has been launched on a pilot basis, and the food will be served between 11 am and 3 pm.

Sanjay Bharti, a vendor at Yusuf Sarai, said, “A similar scheme was launched by some government agency where they served food for Rs 18 near Safdarjung Hospital. I ate there often: the quality of vegetable curry they served deteriorated. After sometime, I stopped visiting.”

Ram Paswan, a labourer, said, “You cannot find such food for Rs 10 anywhere in Delhi. We don’t even mind paying Rs 20 if they maintain the quality. Most of these schemes start off well, but slowly deteriorate.”

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The menu offers puri, chapattis, rice, rajma, vegetables, chhole and halwa. It says one of these items will be served daily.

The meal will be available for sale at Rs 10 daily from 11 am to 2 pm, the SDMC said in a statement on Monday. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation too launched a similar scheme in Shalimar Bagh.

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