How public canteens in India are creating jobs, supporting women, and fostering democratic spaces

Canteens are under-researched not only in India, but elsewhere too. Therefore, in November-December 2023, we conducted The Canteen Survey 2023 in three states – Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The purpose was to understand the role of canteens and how well or poorly they are implemented.

One persistent problem with canteen schemes is that they have fallen prey to petty politicking at the state level. This can take different forms: in Andhra Pradesh, Anna Canteens were closed en masse. In Karnataka, the Congress government introduced Indira Canteens in 2017. When the BJP government came to power in the state, there were budget cuts, layoffs and in some canteens, opening hours were curtailed. Tamil Nadu’s Amma Canteens, which started in 2013, benefited from the fact that the party that introduced the scheme (the AIADMK) remained in power until 2021. When the government changed, there was a widespread perception that Amma Canteens were being neglected.

Rajasthan’s Indira Rasois were just three years old, when elections became due (in November 2023). This created the possibility that a change in government could lead to the neglect or closure of canteens. The Canteen Survey 2023 was conducted before this could happen in Rajasthan, and to study the implementation...

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