YSR Congress party government on Tuesday clarified that there was no proposal to close down Anna canteens opened by the previous Telugu Desam Party government to provide breakfast and lunch to the poor at subsidised rates.
There were reports earlier that the government was planning to shut down the ongoing Anna canteens due to severe financial crunch.
Moreover, there is no point in continuing any schemes that would remind the people of the TDP regime, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy felt.
However, there were strong protests from people over the reported closure of the canteens. Already, in some places, there were reports of canteens being shut down and in others, the scheme was restricted to an average of 500 people per day.
When the TDP members raised the issue in assembly on Tuesday, it led to heated arguments between them and the treasury benches.
Minister for Urban Development Botsa Satyanarayana said that the government had no intention to close down the Anna canteens.
“There would only be change of colour of the canteens. In the past, the TDP government painted it yellow to depict their party colour. We will undo it,” he said/
Stating that only 183 canteens were being operated across the state at present, Botsa said alleged that the previous TDP government had opened Anna canteens indiscriminately just before the elections without any proper procedure and structure.
Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy said the TDP government had wasted a lot of money in the name of Anna canteens.
“While it cost only Rs 1.5 lakh per day for the Telangana government to run the subsidised lunch scheme, the TDP government spent Rs 20 lakh per day on Anna canteens,” he criticised.