Mamata's Maa canteens offering meals at Rs 5 shut down across Kolkata amid uncertainty
Telegraph | 10 May 2026
A state-funded Covid-era initiative that provided daily meals for a princely ₹5 is among the many schemes that are now uncertain.
At least 50 “Maa” canteens across Calcutta have shut down.
Those who ran these canteens and officials of the KMC said supplies from the state had dried up, and sustaining the kitchens had become impossible.
Government officials did not refute the charge.
Sources said while various state government departments supplied the rice, dal, vegetables and eggs, some selected NGOs prepared the cooked meals and distributed them from over 130 canteens in the city.
“The departments are not sure if the new BJP government would sign the bills of a scheme that was launched by Mamata Banerjee and was one of her more popular initiatives,” said an official of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
The Calcutta civic body is responsible for liaising between the departments that supply the raw material and the NGOs that cook and distribute the meals.
A senior member of an NGO that used to cook about 8,000 meals a day and supplied them to 12 locations said they did not receive any fresh supply of rice, dal or eggs.
“We stopped cooking the meals on Friday,” said a woman.
Among some of the canteens that had already stopped were the two canteens inside SSKM Hospital, one near Kalighat bridge, one outside Purna cinema in Bhabanipur and another near the Lord’s crossing on Prince Anwar Shah Road.
“The agencies that used to supply materials to us on behalf of the state informed us that they had not received any fresh orders for supplying us. They asked us to check again on Monday or Tuesday. We are hoping there will be some clarity by then,” the NGO official said.
Suvendu Adhikari will be sworn in as the chief minister of the new BJP government on Saturday.
The Maa canteens were launched in February 2021 to provide food security in urban areas, especially for the poor and needy.
Queues of hundreds of people outside each of the canteens had been a common sight over the past five years.
“I used to have lunch from the canteen frequently. I could have a full meal for ₹5. It will not be right to close the canteens as many people like me depended on them for our lunch,” said a shoe mender near Purna cinema.
The canteens used to run between noon and 3pm, but they would often run out of food much before 3, as the demand was very high.
The scheme was initially launched in the seven municipal corporations and 34 municipalities of Bengal and later expanded to other municipal bodies.