Thali in Rs 10: Will Shiv Sena’s Ambitious Project Be Financially Viable?

After promising10-rupee meals across the state in its manifesto ahead of the Assembly elections, the state cabinet of the Shiv Sena-led government cleared a proposal called ‘Shiv Bhojan’ on December 24. The scheme is set to be launched on experimental basis and is expected to cost about Rs 6,48,00,000.

Initially, 50 such canteens will be opened across the state—one canteen each at a district headquarter. These canteens will serve maximum 500 lunches per day. Every meal will comprise two rotis each of 30 gm, a vegetable curry weighing 100 gm, 150 gm rice and 100 gm dal. This thali (meal) will cost Rs 10 to the customer. These canteens will remain open from 12 pm to 2 pm every day.

The state government has also declared that there will be a committee led by the chief secretary of state which will observe and, in later stages, include various NGOs or private companies using the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The preliminary criteria state that persons or self help groups need to own the space to start the canteen. Names of the institutions will be cleared at the district level by committees under district collectors.

The contentious issue regarding the project is the subsidy and its burden on the state treasury. It is expected that the cost of each thali will be Rs 50 in urban areas and Rs 35 in rural areas. So, the state government will have to provide subsidy of Rs 40 in urban areas and Rs 25 in rural. However, as the state government is already reeling under huge financial burden, how it plans to tackle this issue is not yet clear.

Making the food available in affordable prices has been one of the most popular schemes in India. Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu late J Jayalalitha had launched a chain of  Amma Canteens, while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, had announced a similar scheme called 'Aam Aadmi Canteens'.

However, this concept is not new for Maharashtra either. Captain Ashish Damle, a local leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been running 'Tai’s Canteen' in Badlapur, Thane without any help from the government since July 2018. [The word Tai translated to elder sister; also used to address NCP leader Supriya Sule.]

“Almost 300 people come to our canteen daily. We serve to them three rotis, sabji and achaar for Rs 10. We do not serve rice and curry. The cost of our thali goes up to Rs 15. If anyone donates refined oil or wheat, then the cost of thali comes down to Rs 12,” said Damle.

The state had also witnessed a similar government scheme, 'Jhunka Bhakar Centre', when the first Shiv Sena government came to power in 1995. It also depended heavily on the government subsidy. But in later stages, the number of thalis started rising on paper and so did the amount of subsidy. 

Now that the government is launching such a scheme again, strict implementation and proper vigilance will have to be ensured. The registration of customers became controversial as fake names and signatures were found in the books. This forced the Congress-NCP government, which came to power in 1999, to shut down the scheme.

Also read: Tamilnadu After Jayalalitha: People, Politics & Proxy Government