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Cuttack, April 12: Residents of Silver City have demanded an Aahar centre at the railway station.
The Aahar centre at Malgodown, unlike the other three at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Sishu Bhawan and Badambadi, is not drawing enough people, according to sources.
The centre has provision for preparing 1,000 meals at Rs 5 each every day but hardly 500 people have their lunch. This leads to colossal wastage of food.
“The opening of such centres is welcome but the government should ensure that these come up in places where the maximum number of needy people can reap its benefits,” said senior Congress leader Suresh Mohapatra.
The state government should open such centres in all panchayats of the district as well so that the rural poor can also benefit, he said.
A rickshaw puller at the Cuttack railway station, Sankirtana Behere, said he was not even aware that an Aahar centre had come up at Malgodown. “As most rickshawpullers and porters live near the railway station, a centre should be opened here,” he said.
Sanjay Kumar, a porter, said that Aahar centres are immensely beneficial for poor people like him. “However, I cannot travel to Malgodown to have lunch as I may miss out on important trains arriving at the station,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Ajaya Barik explained that the CMC’s plan to open an Aahar centre at the railway station did not materialise as permission for this was not granted by the Railways.
“We understand that an Aahar centre at the railway station would help a lot of people but we are helpless as we could not get the required permission from the Railways,” he said.
Barik said the civic body will try to set up an Aahar centre at the railway station.
