India Morning News
Nagpur: There is relief for many people in Nagpur. The Shiv Bhojan Scheme has started again. For many months, the centers were closed because the government did not pay the money on time. Now the state government has restarted the scheme and has given 28 crore to run it. This amount is part of the 70-crore budget for next year.
Officers have been told to reopen all Shiv Bhojan centers within 10 days. If they do not reopen, the government will take back the money.
The scheme began in January 2020. One Shiv Bhojan plate includes two chapatis, a vegetable, dal and rice. People only pay 10, and the government pays the rest — 50 in cities and 35 in villages.
Till now, the scheme has served 18.83 crore meals. At its busiest time, about 1.76 lakh plates were given every day.
In Nagpur, the scheme started with only 5 centers but grew to 160 centers by 2025. But because payments were stopped for nearly eight months, many centers shut down. People in Mankapur, Nari Road, Pardi, Nandanvan and South Nagpur were most affected.scheme has returned just before local body elections, so political discussions have started again.
The opposition says this is “perfect election timing,” but officials say the decision is only for public welfare and food security.
The government has also added better monitoring with a Shiv Bhojan app and digital record system to keep the meals and payments transparent.
