Uddhav govt cracks down on stale food at subsidised Shiv Bhojan centres

The Maharashtra state government is cracking down on centres run under the Shiv Bhojan scheme, which offers full meals at a highly subsidised rate like the Amma Canteens in Tamil Nadu, after complaints about stale and poor quality food have come to light.

According to a special report in a news website, the state food, civil supplies, and consumer protection department conducting the scheme, has instructed every district to conduct surprise inspections, and ensure the centres are strictly adhering to the state government’s norms.

An official told The Print that the department has been receiving a lot of complaints about irregularities in the functioning of these centres. So, they have directed their district officials to take action from time to time, depending on the seriousness of the irregularities.

The irregularities range from non-functioning centres, poor quality food or non-compliance with government’s guidelines. For example, they are meant to display a board that advertises the canteen as a ‘Shiv Bhojan’ centre for beneficiaries to be able to access it. But that is also missing at times.

The state government has termed the irregularities under three different categories: as mild, serious, and very serious and action against them will be taken from a simple showcause notice to the centres revoking their approval to function as a ‘Shiv Bhojan’ centre. The second time the centre is pulled up for a slip up, penalty on a par with what is considered a serious offence will be imposed by the government.

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Serious irregularities will attract a penalty of ₹5,000 or one day’s earnings — whichever is higher. The government will consider keeping centres shut, not serving food in line with the requirements of the scheme, and non-functioning surveillance cameras, as serious wrongdoings. Serving stale or inferior quality food or subcontracting the centre to someone else will be categoriesed a very serious irregularity and the government will cancel the approval given to the centre.

Last year, to minimize corruption at the centres, state government had directed all centres to set up CCTV cameras and provide footage to the government whenever required.

Uddhav Thackeray’s favourite scheme

According to state government data, as of 31 December 2021, there were 1,485 approved Shiv Bhojan centres across the state.

A pet project of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, the scheme which was launched in January 2020. Under this scheme, individuals and self-help groups run centres or canteens that provide a full meal — two rotis, one vegetable preparation, rice, and dal — at 10 per plate. Approvals from the state are required before they set up these canteens. The centres under this scheme have distributed 8.24 crore subsidised food plates until December 31, 2021.

The department has fixed April 30 this year for all non-functioning centres that have been given approvals to start operations. If they fail to do so, permits under the Shiv Bhojan scheme will be cancelled.