'Community kitchens' offering food at low prices to be opened at 100 more places in Haryana

'Community kitchens' offering food to the poor and needy at low prices will be opened at 100 more places in Haryana, officials said on Friday.

At present, there are nine such canteens in the state which are being run by the Labour Department and they offer nutritious food for Rs 10, they said.

The government has now planned to open these kitchens at more than 100 places in the state, it was made known during a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal here on Friday.

According to an official statement, about 50 such canteens are expected to start in the next three months.

In December 2019, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had inaugurated the first Atal Kisan-Mazdoor canteen in Karnal's New Anaj Mandi.

The Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board is running 23 such canteens now which too are providing food to farmers and labourers for Rs 10, they said.

Owing to the success of these canteens and understanding the need of people, the board has decided to open such canteens at 25 more places and they will start functioning in the six months.

Besides, three affordable canteens are also being run by the Urban Local Bodies Department, the statement said.

Meanwhile, it was also informed in the meeting that free food is being provided by the Health Department to patients and their families in 14 civil hospitals with the help of various NGOs.