Meet the IFS officer who made Indira Canteen, its app a reality
- The officer had only 71 days to complete the mammoth task of mapping 198 Indira Canteens.
- He worked nearly 18 hours per day for over 60 days to finish the project.
- He saved the government from facing embarrassment considering the fact that Appaji Canteens had opened much before them
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With a lot of pride and fanfare the Indira Canteen was inaugurated by AICC vice-president  Rahul Gandhi on August 16. CM Siddaramaiah beamed with pride as the whole event took place, probably even calculating the number of votes this move would add to his kitty. So is the CM  the person who needs to be congratulated on this massive venture? Well, not as much. He only signed the papers, gave the approvals, lobbied and publicised it and posed for the photographs.Â
There is someone else you can thank for the good design, menu, ambience and mobile app of the Indira canteen. Meet IFS officer Manoj Rajan, the brain behind Indira Canteen. Had the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner Manjunath Prasad not handed over the task to Manoj Rajan, the special finance commissioner in BBMP, then the project would have remained a distant dream.
Going by BBMP's attitude of delaying projects, and with just 71 days left, Commissioner Manjunath Prasad authorised Rajan to finish the project within the stipulated time period. The officer along with his team worked for 18 hours and directed the civil contractors to use readymade concrete slabs and structures to finish the project.
"The use of technology in civil engineering and constant follow up through zonal commissioners and engineers got us 101 canteens ready by August else it would not have been possible. Another feature is the app. Since Bengaluru is super tech savvy and any and everyone roams around with a smartphone in their pocket, we decided to use an app to help them locate the canteen, know its menu and timing and also leave a comment to rectify any mistakes," Rajan said. After all 198 wards, 198 canteens and locations is difficult to map and find.Â
A competition was held for the public to propose the canteen design and based on the same the canteens were built. The zonal commissioners in all ten zones have been given login ID and any complaint or requirement for the canteen, they can place the order and the same will be checked by kitchen nodal officer in all 27 assembly segments. In case there is any complaint, the contractors will be pulled up to rectify it at the earliest.Â
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