Mangaluru : The Opposition BJP in the Mangaluru City Corporation Council alleged on Thursday that that the corporation has been wasting the taxpayers’ money by making full payment to the contractor managing five Indira Canteens though food is not being served to the maximum of 7,500 persons a day.

Addressing presspersons, Premananda Shetty, Leader of the Opposition in the council, said one Indira Canteen is allowed to serve food to a maximum of 1,500 persons a day as breakfast, lunch and dinner together.

He said that in some canteens, only between 60 and 100 persons have food at a time, as against the maximum of 500 allowed. But the corporation has made full payment to the contractor, considering that 500 persons have been served food at a time. This is a waste of money, Mr. Shetty said.

He said the corporation had failed to monitor how many persons have food in each canteen every month. Hence, the contractor is being paid fully, he said.

He said the price per breakfast has been fixed at ₹12, with the consumer paying ₹5 and the government bearing the remaining ₹7.

The government has fixed ₹24 as the price per lunch and a dinner. The consumer’s share is ₹10 each, while the government will take care of the rest. The corporation will have to bear 70% of the total share of the government while the Labour Department pays for the remaining 30%.

According to Mr. Shetty, the contractor has submitted the monthly bill to the corporation for further processing. The bill submitted amounts of ₹26.25 lakh, he said, and in that the civic body has to pay ₹18.37 lakh.

Mr. Shetty said that Section 5 of the agreement between the government and the contractor made it clear that increasing or decreasing the number of persons to be served was allowed by serving due notice. The corporation should exercise this option by monitoring the canteens, he said, adding that this way, the taxpayers’ money can be saved.