Rajya Sabha members on Wednesday criticised the quality of food served in Parliament canteen prompting Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to assure the elders of looking into the matter. The issue was raised by JD (U) leader KC Tyagi who said Samajwadi Party leaders Ramgopal Yadav and Jaya Bachchan fell ill after consuming canteen food. Jaya alleged the food served in the canteen is often stale.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Tyagi also remarked in a lighter vein that it was a well-planned conspiracy to keep the members’ mouth shut in Parliament. Some members from the Opposition benches remarked that food was from Gujarat, to which Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkiah Naidu said, “Some people keep dreaming of Gujarat, what can I doIJ”
While admitting that she was not in favour of making a big issue out of it, Jaya, however, observed that it was a fact that she had to suffer after she ate food in Parliament. The problem of poor quality of food is prevailing since last four-five years, she added.Rajeev Shukla (Congress) supported her saying, he was a member of the Food Committee and had suggested bringing the kitchen back to Parliament building.
His observation came in the backdrop of Parliament House kitchen, which serves food to MPs, staff and journalists was closed down in July 2012 because of the danger posed by cooking gas cylinders. The kitchen serves food to over 8,000 people during the session.