At Delhi's Jan Aahar stall, demand for 'aam aadmi' meal

NEW DELHI: The aam aadmi canteen proposal has triggered an enthusiastic response. Although it has only been a day since Arvind Kejriwal announced his plans to establish the outlets providing meals at highly subsidized rates, people have already started asking for the CM's "10 rupees meal" at Jan Aahar stalls—a scheme that was launched by Sheila Dikshit.However, National Association of Street Vendors of India has criticized the project, fearing that the move will impact livelihood of the existing street food vendors severely.
The new scheme will replace the existing Jan Aahar Yojana that provides meals at Rs 18. "I heard about the new Aam aadmi canteen scheme of providing thaali at Rs10, so I came to this vendor thinking they have already slashed the rates," said Ajay Gupta, a rickshaw-puller who visited a Jan Aahar outlet outside the Old Delhi railway station.
The Jan Aahar scheme is run by NGOs and a few women's organizations. Under this programme, a low-cost and nutritious thaali, consists of dal, rice, vegetable and two puris, is provided. "We get fresh stock from the market. The Sheila Dikshit government had provided us with land to set up shops. Everything else was managed by the NGO. But now that Kejriwal has announced this new scheme, we will have to run according to the government's plans," said Vijay Kumar who manages a Jan Aahar stall.
These eateries cater mainly to daily wage labourers, roadside shopkeepers, rickshawpullers and autorickshaw drivers. Gulzar Ali, who sells shoes near one of these outlets, has been eating food from there regularly for the past two years. "The food is cooked under hygienic conditions and it is healthy. It is also cheap. The other vendors around do provide food at prices lower than Jan Aahar but it is mostly fried. I am looking forward to the new canteens because they claim to be cheaper," he said.
NASVI says there are approximately five lakh street vendors in the city and their entire income depends on the lower income group that includes construction workers and daily wage labourers. According to them, street food vendors provide meals at rates a cheap as the proposed rate of Rs10. The association has accused the Delhi government of not factoring in the interests of these street vendors. According to NASVI even the previous schemes that aimed to provide meals at subsidized rates were failures as they either were limited to certain areas or served unhygienic food. They don't feel that this new scheme is any different from the others.
NASVI says that the existing vendors can achieve the goal of providing cheap and healthy food to lower income groups, This can be made possible if in place of establishing subsidized canteens the existing street food vendors are given training and better infrastructure.
"We are fixing an appointment with the Chief Minister to present an alternative plan as opposed to the aam aadmi canteen. Instead of spending on opening new outlets, the government should work towards giving the existing vendors good quality infrastructure like cleaner water and also providing them with training." Arbind Singh, national coordinator of NASVI said.
Singh also said that the alternate proposal includes opening food courts in the areas where people from the lower income groups reside. According to an estimate provided by the association, there are around 4.2 lakh people living in slums in the city and 10-15 lakh construction workers and daily wage labourers. It is this massive group that street food vendors in the city cater to. NASVI's alternate proposal of making the existing street food vendor model also includes proper monitoring by the government so that the food that is served is nutritious and cooked in clean conditions.