Ashish Khetan, vice chairman of the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body to the government which drafted the proposal, had affirmed on July 16 last year that the first few canteens would become operational in "two months and possibly before independence day" but not a single outlet has come up till date.
The scheme, aimed primarily at the working class and students, is to be implemented by the Food and Civil Supplies Department of the city government.
One of his aides, tasked with handling the media, said the "work is on" and that a formal announcement would be made "as and when" there are concrete developments.
According to the proposal, the canteens will serve "nutritious and delicious" meals in the Rs 5-10 range to those who cannot afford, especially around 10 lakh construction workers, hawkers and families living in JJ clusters, and students of technical institutes.
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Khetan had announced the management of the canteens was likely to be outsourced to private agencies. The government refused to comment on the scheme, saying that it was being handled by the DDC.
"The Jan Aahar experiment was not good and the scheme collapsed. The quality of food was poor and hygiene was not being maintained due to lax monitoring, in spite of the fact that food was priced at around Rs 20," Khetan had said.
There is still no official word on the subsidy required for the scheme, which was "approved" by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last July. Each canteen is billed to cater to around 3,000 to 5,000 people.