Key Points:
The Atal Canteen at G Block, Jahangirpuri feeds about 500–600 people, mostly rag pickers, kabadi walas, and auto drivers. Operated by volunteers, the food comes from a centralised kitchen, as there is no kitchen at the canteen itself.
Volunteers said that online registration and slow servers delay food distribution and make queues longer. They also stated they have been working since inauguration but have yet not received their salaries, and there is no drinking water facility at the canteen.
Residents reported dirty sewage water, garbage, and hygiene issues around the canteen site. They said the area was temporarily cleaned during inauguration, but filth returned later, with no permanent solution provided by the authorities.
Launched on the 101st birth anniversary of former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the 'Atal Canteen' scheme promises a nutritious meal for just ₹5. But in the narrow lanes of Jahangirpuri, the ambitious public welfare project is colliding with the harsh realities of sanitation, unpaid staff, and server glitches.
The Atal Canteen scheme is a public welfare scheme that provides freshly cooked nutritious meals, and the canteens operate in a shelter tent operated by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB). The BJP Government of Delhi came with the concept of Atal Canteens - providing food to the poor people at just ₹5. A plate consists of rotis (Indian flatbread), sabzi (vegetables), dal (lentils) and pickles.
The Atal Canteen Scheme was launched to primarily feed the economically weaker section of the society, and fight food insecurity in the JJ (Jhuggi-Jhopdi) Clusters of Delhi. Strategically placed around the JJ Clusters, it provides nutritious meals to the laborers, rickshaw pullers, sanitation workers, and other people engaged in such jobs.
The DUSIB is responsible for hiring private agencies, or self help groups (SHGs) based in Delhi to provide volunteers/employees who work at the site. The process for hiring agencies/self-help groups is based on a transparent competitive tender process. The agencies which acquire the tenders then run the canteen, with the administrative oversight of DUSIB. The volunteers are then hired by the self-help groups that attain the tenders.
While the agencies operate the canteens, the government has mandated or encouraged that they hire local women, gig workers, and members of SHGs to staff the distribution counters, though they are employees of the agency, not the government.
The scheme was inaugurated on December 25, 2025, and 45 such canteens around Delhi were set up, with plans to bring the total to 100. These outlets are spread across multiple areas of Delhi such as Narela, Bawana, Badli, Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur, Timarpur, Mangolpuri, Jahangirpuri, etc. The concept was named after the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, honoring his legacy and contribution to the nation.
NewsGram conducted a ground coverage of the Atal Canteen at G Block, JJ (Jhuggi Jhopdi) Cluster, Jahangirpuri, Azadpur. The area falls under the constituency of Adarsh Nagar, whose MLA is BJP’s Raj Kumar Bhatia. Adarsh Nagar Vidhan Sabha Constituency falls under the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha Constituency, whose MP is Praveen Khandelwal, also from BJP.
Atal Canteen at the G Block, Jahangirpuri was inaugurated on December 27, 2025, by Raj Kumar Bhatia and Praveen Khandelwal. It is operated by volunteers from Dalit Manav Utthan Sansthan (DMUS), an NGO organisation that has received tender from the DUSIB. There are about 4-5 volunteers at the site, and they distribute food to the people. There is no kitchen in the canteen itself, the food comes from a centralised kitchen where it is prepared.
The Atal Canteen at Jahangirpuri feeds about 500-600 people, mostly poor, who work as rag pickers, kabadi walas, auto drivers, and other people coming from the lower class.
Mayank, a volunteer working there said that first they have to provide tokens to people before serving them food. He further said: “The token is provided based on a registration performed online, at a website of the DUSIB. Only one token is generated per customer, and lunch is served from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm, and dinner from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. However, many times we face problems with a slow server, due to which it takes time for the registration process. This causes delay in distributing food, and the queue gets long, with people waiting for a longer time.”
Mayank also informed that the server issue occurs quite frequently, and he has complained about it multiple times to his seniors. While his seniors advise him to use personal hotspot and manage the situation, the larger queues often pose a problem to the volunteers. He also said that the volunteers here have been working at this canteen since its inauguration, however they have yet not received their salaries. The volunteers have been working there since December 27, 2025 (for 1 month and 14 days, at the time of ground reporting), and often get assurances from the authorities that their salaries will be credited.
Another volunteer, Purna Kuamri Devi, said that although the food is provided at the canteen, there is no drinking water facility. “We contribute and pay ourselves for the drinking water”, she added. She also mentioned that oftentimes, the people who come in the canteen are nashedis (drunkards), posing security issues to the volunteers. However, no incident of the nashedis posing a threat to them has occurred as of now.
Asked if the site has a security guard, Mayanak said that there was one who was outside the canteen. Mayank also said that they provide food directly to the disabled people who come there, without them waiting in line.
He added: “If the food is left even after the distribution, it is sent back to the centralised kitchen. However, we don’t send any customers away, we feed whoever comes. The registration time is from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm for lunch, and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm for dinner, following which the registration website automatically closes. When there are server issues and the registration site is closed, we provide food to those who couldn’t get themselves registered.”
Another problem that the people complained about is the quality of food. A young man (who wished to be unnamed), who has been visiting the canteen to avail its benefits, said that they received uncooked rice and lentils on multiple days.
According to the scheme, the menu serves roti, rice and lentils everyday, but the variety of sabzi (vegetables) is changed. The aforementioned customer said: “Many times we do not even receive the pickles that are shown in the posters. The quality of the food is very bad, even the sabzi variety is not changed and we get aloo (potato) sabzi everyday. When we call the toll free number to complain about the issue, nobody answers the call.”
He further said: “We only eat to feed ourselves, we are poor people and we cannot afford to eat anywhere else.” However, some customers appreciated the food, saying that the food quality is mostly good. A customer said that only on some days the food’s quality was bad, but overall it is quite good and affordable.
Although the interior of the canteen is fairly clean, the place where the outlet is located faces severe sanitation and hygiene issues. Outside, there is dirty sewage water lying on the streets, and to the canteen’s right is a sewage naala (drainage), that has accumulated garbage in itself. Behind the canteen also garbage is lying around. Residents of the area also informed me that there are security issues in the streets, where thieves steal their valuables and gates are not installed at multiple lanes.
Sudhir, a resident of the Dhobi Ghat, Gali 1800, G-Block Cluster, which is quite close to the canteen’s location (only a few 100 metres away), said that when the canteen was being inaugurated by Raj Kumar Bhatia and Praveen Khandelwal, then the area was cleaned up and tents were placed to hide the garbage. “As soon as they left, the conditions went back to being problematic, with filth lying all around. Where I live, sewer water overflows in the streets and the people face hygiene problems. We have complained numerous times, but the authorities pay no heed.”
Sudhir further spoke: “When Mukesh Goel (previous MLA of Adarsh Nagar from Aam Aadmi Party was the MLA of the area, we had complained and he heard us, providing some solutions. But when BJP came to power here, nothing has been done. The officials from BJP even removed the CCTV cameras Kejriwal had installed earlier for our security.”
Another resident, a man in his 40s, of the G-Block Cluster said: “Earlier today, MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) authorities came to clean the garbage and remove the sewage, but look at this, is it still removed? There is filth lying all around even now. They will come with big machines, remove sewage water, click photos and then leave. There is no permanent solution provided by them.”
While many customers were satisfied with the scheme, and thanked the government for providing food at a low price, several customers complained about administrative problems they continue to face in the Jahangirpuri area. Residents and volunteers pointed out serious issues that the government is ignoring. There is no arrangement for drinking water, volunteers haven't received their salaries, and the online server frequently fails, making hungry people wait longer.
While the Atal Canteen fills empty stomachs, it does not address why the stomachs are empty in the first place. It also does not address the unsafe, unsanitary conditions in which the beneficiaries of the Atal Canteens are forced to adjust with. Many beneficiaries of the scheme have praised the public welfare scheme, saying that the initiative to provide food at a mere ₹5 is commendable, but the larger problem of food insecurity still persists.
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