Even PM pines for meal @ 29

Even PM pines for meal @ 29
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The vegetarian ‘thali’ that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had at Parliament’s Canteen has for long provided sustenance to lawmakers busy through the day when they are in session, too busy to go out.

New Delhi: The vegetarian ‘thali’ that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had at Parliament’s Canteen has for long provided sustenance to lawmakers busy through the day when they are in session, too busy to go out.

It has been a great leveler –MPs rich and poor, from all parties and regions eat there. It is a place for some bonhomie that eating together allows. MPs eat there, till they become ministers, governors etc. and return to it when they demit those offices.

The canteen serves as the supply source for ministers and senior officials who order food and for snacks and tea/coffee at media conferences. Normally catering to lunch, snacks and tea/coffee, the canteen is asked to prepare dinners whenever one of the House is having a long sitting, usually a contentious legislation or even a no-confidence motion. If some members protest about the sitting, the chair chimes in: “Honourable Members, dinner has gbeen ordered. Now please continue the debate.”

Late union minister and member from Mumbai, Murli Deora was an ardent fan. Union Minister Arun Jaitley recorded their afternoon meals in a tribute he paid to a friend and fellow-parliamentarian.

The ‘thali’ is a wholesome, simple fare of rice, roti, vegetables, lentil, salad and pickles. Nothing extravagant, but the material used is top class. Yes, rice is good basmati.

It used to cost a modest Rs 2.50 in the 1970s, perhaps cheaper than that earlier. That Modi paid Rs 29, with taxes included, would still make it the cheapest meal, at least in a big city like New Delhi.

It, however, falls short of the daily average spending of Rs 32 calculated by Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy chairman of the eartwhile Planning Commission in 2011, triggering protests from the opposition and the civil society that considered it ‘ridiculous.’

Of course, at Rs 29, the meal is heavily subsidised from Parliament’s funds aimed at aiding lawmakers with modest means. The cheap fare has attracted adverse comments, especially on the social media, each time MPs debate and give themselves higher salaries, allowances and perks. The food at Parliament’s canteen is not one of them, but remains a crucial one.

It is run by the Railway Ministry’s Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. Late Prof Madhu Dandavate, one of the most outstanding railway ministers the country has had, known for a great sense of hunour, once proudly said in the Lok Sabha: “We are famous for running catering service in parliament and providing food to Honourable Members… By the way, we also run the railways."

Time was when the ‘thali’ was actually a white metal rectangular vessel with separate compartments for food. Now that has been replaced by proper cutlery. In the past, along with food came raw garlic, an appetizer-cum-killer of acidity and indigestion in many an Indian home. Today that has been done away with as the generation that lived on such grandmother’s remedy does not get elected to Parliament.


But vegetarian ‘thali’ is not all that available at the canteen. There are non-vegetarian ‘thali’ too, besides biryani, chicken curry, fried fish etcetra. There are south Indian dishes like bisibele baath, besides dosa and vada. There is a variety of sweets, mostly purchased from outside, to cater to sweet tooth and the traditional rounding-off of an Indian meal.

The canteen was for long housed in two large rooms. The media personnel were allowed in and it was quite easy to mingle with lawmakers with informality that goes with sharing a table at lunch.

But with the influx of media personnel and later the security staff in large numbers, the MPs began to complain of having to stand and wait over the heads of those who are seated and the resultant delay. Separate arrangements have since been made for media and the staff.

For media, it has meant distancing from the lawmakers. There is nothing like a simple, hot meal when one is hungry. Easily the first PM to visit the canteen, Modi was right in his noting in the Visitors’ Book: “Annadata sukhi bhava.”

By: Mahendra Ved

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