Shiv Bhojan to be available at dist HQs for Rs 10

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has decided to provide meals — Shiv Bhojan — in every district of the state at the nominal rate of Rs 10.

At a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at the Sahyadri Guest House Tuesday, a proposal in this regard was approved. The Cabinet also approved a draft of the ‘Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Loan Waiver Scheme’. The chief minister had announced the waiver in the recently concluded winter session of the Assembly at Nagpur. Farmers, who have outstanding loans of upto `2 lakh up to September 30, 2019, will be covered under this scheme.

An official said that a pilot project of the scheme will be run for the next three months at a cost of `6.48 crore. In the first phase, the pilot project will be carried out in the headquarters of each district of the state.

The government also approved starting a maximum of 500 ‘thalis’ in each kitchen of the district headquarters. Post some feedback, the scheme will be implemented in other parts of the state, as per an official statement issued by the chief minister’s office.

The Shiv Bhojan will comprise two chapatis of 30gm, a bowl of vegetable weighing 10gm, a bowl of rice weighing 150gm, and a bowl of dal weighing 100gm. The eateries that will provide the Shiv Bhojan will be open from 12pm to 2pm.

The official said that the Shiv Bhojan thali will cost Rs 50 in urban areas and Rs 35 in rural areas. Consumers will be asked to pay Rs 10 and the remaining subsidy will be paid to district collectors by the state government to pay the concerned distributors. Rs 40 and Rs 25 will be paid as subsidy in urban and rural areas, respectively.

The Shiv Bhojan and the farm loan waiver were the prominent promises of the common minimum programme of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).