These Tribal Women Are The Fuel Behind Banswara’s Rs 8 Meal Network

By Laxmikanta Joshi

Banswara, Rajasthan: It is around 6 in the morning in Bhudwapada village of Bagidora block in Rajasthan's Banswara district, Kamla Dodiyar, 30, is quickly finishing her household chores. Until a few years ago, her mornings were consumed by home, farm, and family. But now, by 7 am she has to reach the Bagidora bus stand to unlock the Annapurna Rasoi. By 7:30 am, the rest of her team arrives, and soon this small kitchen transforms into an organised food system, where 150 to 200 people are served a full meal every day for just Rs 8.

Affordable meal schemes are not new in India. Governments across different states have long run subsidized canteen programmes where the state prepares and delivers food. But in this tribal-dominated region of Banswara, a different model has taken root, one where women manage the entire supply chain including production, processing, packaging, and service in addition to cooking.

Farm to plate

To understand how the system works end-to-end, this reporter visited Patelia village, three kilometres from Bagidora. Here, women from self-help groups under the Van Dhan Yojana clean wheat, sort and pack rice and pulses, and aggregate vegetables brought in fresh from nearby fields. This produce is then supplied to the Annapurna kitchens across the block.

That supply chain begins in villages like Vadlipada. Women such as Sangeeta—also part of a self-help group—are engaged in cultivation itself, handling organic fertilisation, irrigation, and weeding on their farms. The grains, pulses, and vegetables they grow are procured directly through their groups and channelled into the Annapurna kitchens. In effect, the same network of women manages both production and processing, linking farms to community kitchens.

23 such kitchens across rural Banswara district, where 235 women — over 95% of them from tribal communities, most minimally educated — are feeding around 4,600 people daily while earning an income to support families.

The group that runs the Bagidora kitchen is called the Mahadev Mahila Swayam Sahayata Samuh, and its lead coordinator is Kamla Dodiyar herself.

How the SHG model works

Banswara district has roughly 24,000 self-help groups. Each group is formed by ten to fifteen women who begin making regular savings together, open a joint bank account, and register with the panchayat through the Aajeevika Mission. Once registered, a group becomes eligible for a revolving fund of Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 to meet initial needs, followed by further support to start a business. Bank loans are also available at an interest rate of just 7%.

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Dhanpat Singh Rao, District Project Coordinator of the Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (Rajivika), explained:

Kamla and her colleague Kachri both describe the training positively. The group had initially considered incense stick manufacturing, but ran into difficulties sourcing machinery and raw materials. Around three years ago, they pivoted to the Annapurna Rasoi. 

How the kitchen operates

District Manager Tabish Sheikh said that the Rasoi's operations are divided into three parts. One team handles farming and packaging of ration materials and delivers them to the kitchens. Another team cooks and serves. Each kitchen has a team of five women who manage everything, cooking, serving, issuing tokens, and maintaining cleanliness. All 23 kitchens across the district follow this structure, and the Mahadev SHG is currently dedicated entirely to Annapurna Rasoi work.

Kamla said: "We usually prepare food for around 200 people. Sometimes it's 150, sometimes 210. Since the kitchen is at the bus stand, we get travelers, students, and laborers every day. Many school children who don't bring lunch come here. Construction workers eat here before returning to work." The menu offers one vegetable dish, rice, dal, and five rotis, with no strict limit on portions. Pickle is served on the side. A month's supplies run to roughly three quintals of flour, 180 kg of rice, and 60 kg of pulses. Vegetables worth ₹250 to ₹330 are used daily, sourced through other self-help groups linked to the Van Dhan Yojana.

The kitchen runs in two shifts: 8 am to 3 pm, and 5 pm to 8 pm. "We don't even go home in between," said Maya, one of the team members.

Finances

Maya talks about the finances: on average, 6,000 people eat at the Bagidora kitchen each month. At Rs 8 per plate paid by the customer, that is Rs 48,000. The state government contributes a subsidy of Rs 22 per plate, totaling Rs 1,32,000. After expenses, the five women on the team each earn between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 a month. Income varies slightly because footfall drops on weekends and holidays, sometimes falling to 80 or 100 people a day.

The work is year-round and uninterrupted. The government provides Rs 5 lakh to set up each kitchen and Rs 3 lakh annually thereafter.

Kamla, who joined the Mahadev SHG in 2021, said: "Earlier, we depended only on my husband Rajesh's income from electrical work and farming. Now, I am financially independent too." In this tribal belt, women typically spend their earnings on children's education and household necessities, food, clothing, essentials, while the husband's income goes back into the farm. Having their own income has quietly altered this equation.

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Kripa Barod from Ghatol block said she studied only till class 8 and had no options beyond daily wage labor, “Earlier, we were just laborers. Now we run our own work.” Kalpana from Vaka village adds that her group now farms not just for the household but for the kitchen as well: “We save Rs 2 to Rs 2.5 lakh annually and even bought a vehicle, something we never imagined." Mangli Garasia from Jhumki village, who is physically disabled and cuts vegetables at the kitchen, said: "I used to feel I couldn't do anything. Now I earn and support my family."

The supply chain behind the kitchens is held together by the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras. Vidhika Kalasua from Patelia village, a BA and BEd graduate who has been active in self-help groups since 2021, serves as block manager in Bagidora and explains the structure: under the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana, ten to fifteen self-help groups, around 300 members in total, form a Van Dhan Vikas Kendra that handles processing, packaging, and marketing of forest and farm produce.

"We procure from different groups and stock it in warehouses. Every month, we supply around 450 kg of flour, 90 kg of pulses, and 300 kg of rice. Urad dal is grown locally; rice is sourced from Sogpura through self-help groups." There are about eight Van Dhan centres in Bagidora alone, involving around 2,400 women. Monthly income at the centre level reaches roughly Rs 2 lakh, with individual women earning Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000.

Vidhika is candid about the challenges: market access is uneven in some areas, farming is weather-dependent, transport remains a problem, and many group leaders have limited education that slows their adoption of digital payments. Currently, a shortage of cooking gas and rising fuel prices are also affecting operations.

Rural model 

Kuldeep Yadav from the Aajeevika Mission points out what makes this rural model distinct: "In urban areas, there are five Annapurna Rasois operated through open tenders where NGOs and institutions can participate. While the subsidy remains the same, the rural model is different because the entire system is managed by women."

The scheme itself has outlasted multiple governments. It was launched on 15 December 2016 under Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. When the Congress government under Ashok Gehlot came to power in 2018, it made two significant changes: the mobile van kitchens were replaced with permanent, fixed structures across the state, and the scheme was renamed Indira Rasoi with the tagline, Koi bhookha na soe (Let no one sleep hungry). One thing did not change: the price. Breakfast for Rs 5, a meal for Rs 8. When the BJP returned under Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, the name changed again, to Shri Annapurna Rasoi. The price has held.

Tabish Sheikh notes that kitchens are deliberately placed at locations like BDO offices and bus stands to maximise reach: government visitors, laborers, and travelers all benefit. Food is also supplied from these kitchens to tribal hostels and government events, which both cuts costs and supports the women's income.

Bagidora sarpanch Rukmani, who encourages women in her area to join, sums it up: "It has increased employment, promoted organic farming, strengthened local markets, and reduced migration. Earlier, not just men but women also had to migrate."

At the Bagidora bus stand, an elderly man named Dhansingh Maida takes a token and says simply: "The food here is both cheap and good. The best part is that it's made by women from our own village."

This article was originally published in 101 Reporters under Creative Common license. Read the original article.

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