While Karnataka continues its total lockdown phase to curb the spread of COVID-19, the government rose up to the occasion in a bid to help the poor and needy in Bengaluru who have no jobs during the shutdown by offering them free three-time meals at Indira Canteens. The decision did garner some positive press for the city's civic body BBMP, which had been receiving a lot of backlash over the management of the pandemic and controversies involving alleged bed scam. But a new twist to the free food distribution at Indira Canteen has once again sparked a row, criticising BBMP.
A new app, called Indira Canteen Parcel Distribution, was launched by BBMP on Wednesday, which is to be used by Indira Canteen staffers in order to keep a tab on the food distribution. It is reported that the staffers need to register themselves on the app and maintain a digital record of those receiving the food packets. The app requires the beneficiaries' mobile numbers and photos of them holding the food packets before they can be on their way.
However, in case a person is there to collect more than three packets, the staffers must enter OTP and the family's ration card before handing over the food packets.
The technological barrier
If the CoWin or any other government app was an indication, one can imagine the challenges faced by the staffers dealing with the new BBMP app. Without training on how to use the app, the civic body rolled out the mandate, which is only slowing the process of distributing food packets to the needy. Moreover, some users are not even aware of how to operate a smartphone and their phones aren't compatible with the app.
"I don't know much about the app; in fact, I don't know how to use a smartphone. We were told that we should have this app on our phones, and we should feed the data on it. I took someone's help to download and how to use it. It takes a lot of time to use this," one staffer said, according to HT.
Even if some workers managed to get the app to work, there have been glitches from day one, said on employee on the condition of anonymity.
"It stopped working at one point and we have clear instructions that food should be given only after entering these details. The queue was getting longer during lunchtime because we couldn't find our way around the app. This has our jobs difficult," another staffer said, asking not to be named.
Insensitive much?
The purpose of the free food initiative at Indira Canteen, which is run by the state government, was to ensure the poor don't have to be without food. There have been several hindrances like people having to walk miles before reaching the canteen. Now, with the introduction of the app, there are longer queues, which is not only a strain on beneficiaries, but increases the risk of infection if people don't follow social distancing or wear a face mask. Above all, the poor are waiting to get food amidst this challenging time, but they are asked for photos and mobile numbers before they are fed.
"We were happy when they BBMP removed the earlier decision and said we didn't have to collect any details of people who were getting food. These are poor people; we feel bad to ask them for their id proof and taking their photos. Now, they have reintroduced it. Earlier if we had to take it down on a piece of paper, now we have to use an app that we don't understand," one staffer noted.
Justifying practice
Until a week ago, Aadhaar details of the beneficiaries receiving free food packets were collected. But it was scrapped, bringing relief to not just the staffers, but those who were receiving the food packets. With the introduction of the new app, BBMP has just added to the troubles.
Justifying the practice, Thulasi Maddineni, special commissioner (Finance), who is in-charge of free distribution of food through Indira canteens, said the BBMP had no option but to do so and cited suspicion of malpractice in the canteens.
"We want to ensure that the contractors are not billing the government more than the number of food packets that are distributed. We are collecting the mobile numbers and photographs so that there is fudging of data," she said.
Maddineni also said the reason why contractors are protesting the app is to avoid streamlining Indira Canteens. "We don't want a situation where the BBMP is accused of a scam. As I said, we have to introduce these measures because we want to check malpractices by the contractors. That fact is that the contractor doesn't want distribution food through Indira canteens streamlined," she added.
