Reopening of Anna Canteens is one of the key promises made by the NDA alliance in its election manifesto. Immediately after coming to power, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu signed the file relating to renovation of the abandoned Anna Canteen buildings all over the state and ordered to reopen them at the earliest. Subsequently, the officials concerned swung into action and started taking steps towards relaunching this generous initiative.
As per the latest reports, the government is planning to launch 183 Anna Canteens on August 15th on the eve of Independence Day. The plan is to establish a total of 203 canteens across the state and feed the poor at a nominal price. However, it has decided to open only 183 in the first phase and the remaining 20 in a few more weeks.
The municipal commissioners in all districts have been directed to accord top priority and complete the renovation works on a war-footing basis and get the canteens ready by the first week of August. The government has allotted 20 Crores to renovate the buildings as they were in dilapidated condition due to neglect.
Already tenders have been called for supply of food to these canteens and the government will finalize the supplier by the end of this month. Additionally, 7 crores has been released for design of software application and IOT devices relating to these canteens. A dedicated website and a trust will be launched for Anna Canteens to accept donations from the people to run these canteens. The government is also planning to clear the pending bills to the tune of 65 crores incurred in 2018.
Anna Canteens is a generous initiative aimed at providing hygienic food at a minimal cost of Rs 5 to the needy. The previous government led by YSRCP closed these canteens and left many of the buildings abandoned immediately after coming to power in 2019.
In 2018, the TDP govt constructed about 200 dedicated buildings to run Anna canteens with a cost of about 80 crore and opened 181 of them by 2018. The food including breakfast, lunch and dinner had been provided at 5 per person (each session) in these canteens before the YSRCP government scrapped the initiative with no reasons.
