Mangaluru : Tipu Jayanthi being celebrated to create awareness on the valour of Tipu Sultan said, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader.

“The state government has been observing various jayanthis. The influence of these freedom fighters and kings is not restricted to any caste or religion. Let us observe Tipu Jayanthi peacefully without any hindrance,” the minister said.

BJP’s Parivarthana rally is a political rally and not a hurdle to the Tipu Jayanthi programme, he added.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader said that the menu in Indira Canteens will be region specific.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has agreed to have one Indira Canteen in his Mangaluru Assembly constituency (erstwhile Ullal), at Thokkottu Junction.

The state government has planed to open canteens in all taluk headquarters of the state.

Additional canteens will be opened if the population in the town is more than 1 lakh.

A canteen in a town, where the number of population is between 45,000 and 1 lakh, will be serving food for three times for 500 people at a nominal rate fixed by the government.

If the population is below 45,000, the canteens will serve food for up to 300 people every day, he said.

The decision on design of the canteen will be taken within two to three days.

Betrayed youth

Stating that the BJP-led NDA government has betrayed the youth, he said that the government has failed to generate employment as promised.

Providing statistics, he said that in 2012-13, Rs 29,630 crore black money was unearthed by the Central government.

It was later Rs 1,011,83 crore (2013-14), Rs 23,108 crore ( 2014-15), Rs 20,721 crore (2015-16) and Rs 28,211 (2016-17).

“The figures show that even after demonetisation, the government has not been successful in unearthing a huge amount of black money,” the minister said.