As the question of whether to continue Parliament canteen subsidy or not has divided MPs, A.P. Jithender Reddy, Chairman of the Committee on Food Management, said here on Thursday that subsidised food was common to canteens in legislatures the world over.
In fact, the U.K. witnessed a similar debate last year over “catering subsidy” in the British Parliament, where not just food but also alcohol is subsidised. “In India, MPs constitute only nine per cent of those who avail themselves of the canteen subsidy. The bulk of the subsidy — 42 per cent — is used up by catering for meetings held within the Parliament House complex, which includes those of parliamentary committees, delegation-level talks and all-party interactions,’’ Mr. Reddy told The Hindu.
He said the staff strength of Parliament House was in the region of 4,500. “When the House is in session, the staff work long hours on a single shift. There are days when one or both Houses sit late into the night. So it is not just the MPs eating in these canteens — in fact, a majority of them go home for their meals,” he said.
A day after several MPs said the “end canteen subsidy” campaign launched by Biju Janata Dal member Baijayant “Jay” Panda and some others should be preceded by a surrender of all “indirect and illegal subsidies such as loan waivers and tax concessions”, he said an effort was being made to distract from the issue by “dragging in recycled allegations against me and my relatives from decades ago”.
In a letter to Mr. Panda, Congress and Left MPs asked him to set a “personal” example by giving up loan waivers reportedly secured by companies run by his family.
