State’s thali scheme in jeopardy over unpaid dues

The Shiv Bhojan thali scheme, in which over 1,70,000 thalis of food are sold to the poor at ₹10 each through 1,881 centres across the state, was launched during Covid-19 by the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. The state government gives operators—generally NGOs, self-help groups or small hoteliers—a subsidy of ₹25 in rural areas and ₹40 in urban ones

MUMBAI: Thanks to the government’s cash crunch resulting from the ₹3,500 crore monthly payout to Ladki Bahin beneficiaries, over 1,881 Shiv Bhojan thali operators have not received their payments for the last six months. Some of them have decided to down their shutters, while an operator in Nagpur, unable to pay the accumulated money owed to grocery suppliers and employees, even tried to end his life.

Although the state government incurs an expenditure of ₹18.5 crore per month or ₹227 crore per year, the Mahayuti government allocated only ₹70 crore in the FY25-26 budget.

The Shiv Bhojan thali scheme, in which over 1,70,000 thalis of food are sold to the poor at ₹10 each through 1,881 centres across the state, was launched during Covid-19 by the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. The state government gives operators—generally NGOs, self-help groups or small hoteliers—a subsidy of ₹25 in rural areas and ₹40 in urban ones.

Although the state government incurs an expenditure of ₹18.5 crore per month or ₹227 crore per year, the Mahayuti government allocated only ₹70 crore in the FY25-26 budget. This has resulted in the pendency of operators’ bills for over six months, making it difficult for them to run the centres.

An official from the food and civil supplies department said that even against the provision of ₹70 crore, which could have lasted for two and a half months, the government released only ₹21 crore in April. “As happened with the projects of other departments, the funds were all diverted to schemes like Ladki Bahin,” he said. “As a result, the operators have not received funds since April and are unlikely to get them at least till December end unless the budgetary allocation through supplementary demands is made in the winter session in December.”

The operators have now started staging protests across the state, demanding an increase in the subsidy and the timely release of the pending bills. After a protest outside Mantralaya two weeks ago, operators from Vidarbha will stage a protest in Nagpur on Monday. “Two hundred centres have been shut down since the scheme was launched in January 2020,” said Kayyum Shaikh, who operates a 100-thali centre outside the state transport depot in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. “Most of them have shut down, as they have not been able to pay off the grocery bills or employees’ wages. Another reason is that the government subsidy is too meagre.”

Shaikh, a member of the Maharashtra Shiv Bhojan Chalak Kriti Samiti, which represents operators, added that some operators had not received the subsidy amount for the last eight months. “The expenditure incurred in running a 100-thali centre is ₹70,000 to ₹80,000 against the subsidy of ₹1.14 lakh a month,” he said. “With the subsidy pending with the government for six months, it has become difficult to pay workers and settle grocery bills.”

Shaikh added that every centre had at least three workers, mostly women. “These women have written to the government saying they are fine with not getting the Ladki Bahin payout but to release the Shiv Bhojan thali funds, as they get a monthly salary of ₹8,000 at these centres.”

The official from the food and civil supplies department said that its proposal of a supplementary budget in the monsoon session in July was struck down by the finance department. “Like other schemes, the government may wind up this one too for want of money,” he said.

When contacted, Chhagan Bhujbal, food and civil supplies minister, said, “The bills will be paid once the budgetary allocation is done.”