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Rajasthan to open 1k kitchens in villages, provide meals at ₹8, says Gehlot
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will launch the Indira Rasoi rural scheme at Jhilay, near Niwai, in Tonk district
The Rajasthan government will launch the rural version of Indira Rasoi scheme on Sunday by opening 1,000 kitchens in villages across the state to provide food for just ₹8 a plate, chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced on Saturday. Till now, such kitchens were operational only in urban regions.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will launch the Indira Rasoi rural scheme at Jhilay, near Niwai, in Tonk district of the western state, which will go to assembly elections later this year.
“Our resolution of ‘no one should sleep hungry’ is coming true through this scheme. Working in this direction, to provide relief from inflation and provide adequate food to every person of the state, the state government has now decided to open 1,000 Indira Rasoi in rural areas also,” Gehlot said.
Through this scheme, the chief minister added, the state government has been providing nutritious food with dignity to the poor and needy for just ₹8. “All sections of people, including students and workers, are getting the benefit of this scheme,” he said, adding that operators and employees of Indira Rasoi across the state are doing a “commendable” job.
All 1,000 kitchens in rural areas will be operated by the women members of the Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (Rajivika) — an autonomous society under the state’s rural development department. “This will also provide employment to more than 10,000 women,” he said.
The Congress-led government had launched the scheme in August 2020 with the resolve of “no one should sleep hungry”.
“There will be no financial constraints of any kind for this scheme, which is being run with the aim of ensuring food security for the deprived sections of the state,” the CM said.
Under this scheme, “free nutritious food was provided to 7.2 million people during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Gehlot said. He also encouraged public representatives to have a meal at Indira kitchens every month so that their quality can be maintained. “This will increase the respect of the people who come here regularly to eat food,” he said.
As part of the scheme, the state government provides ₹5 lakh and a grant of ₹17 per plate for the establishment of a new kitchen. Till now, at least 130 million plates of nutritious food have been served to the people from 992 Indira Rasoi in urban areas.
Gehlot also praised the fact that at least 500 local service-oriented organisations in the state are running kitchens on the basis of “no profit, no loss”.
