Breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch for Rs 10: Siddaramaiah launches Indira Canteen at Bengaluru airport

A BBMP official said that passengers were also expected to have food at the canteen. “You look at the price for food inside the airport. You will not get breakfast for less than Rs 200. I am sure some of them will depend on Indira Canteen for food,” the official added.

After unveiling the canteen, Siddaramaiah said, “We are starting 188 new Indira Canteens in Bengaluru. Two canteens are being started as per the demand of taxi drivers and other drivers. Of these, 40 have already been completed and the rest are underway. Indira Canteen was required at Kempegowda Airport. One has already been inaugurated and another Indira Canteen is coming up here.”

“Its purpose is to provide meals and breakfast to the poor at low rates. Breakfast is provided at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner will be available for Rs 10. The food menu has also been changed. A dining hall has been arranged. Indira Canteens will be set up in every ward of Bengaluru and also in other parts of the state. The previous government did not provide meals and some of them have been closed.”

Setting up an Indira Canteen was one of the 36 demands submitted by the federation of cab and autorickshaw drivers’ associations to Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy. The demand came in view of drivers’ stressful commute between the airport and the city and also the exorbitant rates charged by restaurants at the airport terminal.