Speaker Om Birla ends Parliament canteen subsidy

  • Food served in Parliament canteen will no longer be subsidised, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said. 
  • It is not yet clear how the decision will be implemented.
  • The low rate of food in the Parliament canteen has often attracted controversy, with critics objecting to lawmakers enjoying a dirt-cheap meal at the taxpayers’ expense. 
  • Others have pointed out that the subsidy doesn’t benefit just MPs, as a host of other Parliament staff and security personnel also take their meals at the canteen.

PARLIAMENT CANTEEN

  • The Parliament canteen had for the past 52 years been run by Northern Railway. 
  • The officials said the annual revenue from Parliament catering was to the tune of Rs 15 to Rs 18 crore. 
  • The Northern Railway would be paid whatever cost it incurred on running the canteen from the Ministry of Finance through Parliament. 
  • From this year, the catering will be done by Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).
  • A major furore over the subsidy had erupted in 2015, when a reply to an RTI query by activist Subhash Agrawal revealed that the canteen got a subsidy of Rs 14 crore every year.

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