This was stated by on Friday Sasti Roti Authority chairman Hanif Abbasi at a meeting in Lahore Commissioner’s office.
He said that the current number of mechanical tandoors in the city was 17. These tandoors would sell roti at Rs2.
Abbasi said that the number of sastay dastarkhwans in the city would also be increased to 100. He said some of these would be set up at the mechanical tandoors. He said people would get a full meal for Rs15 at these dastarkhwans, during lunch and dinner hours. It would consist of two rotis and a plate of curry, he added.
In this regard, he said, the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) would establish seven such dastarkhwans in the next week.
There are five mobile dastarkhwans in the city currently. These are being jointly run by the provincial government and local philanthropists.
Abbasi said that the government would provide Rs1.32 million subsidy to the mechanical tandoors on a daily basis. This would be in the form of subsidized wheat flour, he said. He added that the government planned to provide around 20 bags per day to each tandoor in the initial phase.
The market price of a 20 kg wheat flour bag is Rs580. The tandoors would get it at Rs250.
Abbasi said the provincial government had decided to move ahead with the Sasti Roti Scheme to provide relief to the poor, regardless of its criticism. He said the tandoors will be setup in low-income areas of the city. He said the mechanical tandoors were capable of baking 1,000 rotis (weighing a 100 gram each) in an hour.
He said the government would conduct a comprehensive survey before approving a site. He said only sites falling in low-income areas would be granted approval for setting up mechanical tandoors.
A site will require a power generator and a gas connection for it to qualify for the establishment of a mechanical tandoor, he added. He said the government had so far got 69 applications in this regard. Of these, he said, 19 had been rejected because they lacked either a generator or gas and electricity connections. He said a team was conducting surveys of the remaining sites.
He said the tandoor, costing Rs235,000, would be sold to the successful applicants on a three-year instalment plan. He added that no interest would be charged.
“The government will only collect the actual cost of the tandoor”. He said the government might also provide power generators on an easy installment plan.
He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had earlier sanctioned a grant of Rs100 million for these tandoors. He added that the chief minister had recently approved another Rs50 million in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2011.
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