Worm found in Bengaluru's Indira canteen food

Bengaluru, Oct 28: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah's pet project 'Indira Canteen' seems to be losing its popularity in Karnataka. The standard of food served in Indira Canteens has come into question once again.

In yet another shocking incident, panic prevailed at an Indira Canteen in Bengaluru's Ramamurthy Nagar after a customer who was having a meal found a worm in the food being served in it on Monday.

After spotting the worm in the food, the customer immediately alerted the canteen staff.

The customers in these canteens cut across various sections of society - from pourakarmikas to labourers to autorickshaw drivers.

However, this isn't the first time, it has been a common complaint among customers regarding the food - be it idli, avalakki bath, rice or sambar - is either uncooked, cold, hard, lack vegetables or inedible. They say that the quality has deteriorated since the canteens' launch in August 2017. Operated by BBMP, these canteens serve a fixed menu on different days of the week.

There are 199 canteens being run in the city's 198 wards. Presently, 22 kitchens in BBMP limits are supplying food to the canteens.

Recently, on February 20, the food samples were collected from the Indira Canteens at Byatarayanapura, JP Nagar, Jayanagar and Nagapura wards. The lab report found that the bisibelebath was bacteria-ridden and concluded that the sample was unfit for human consumption.