Bengaluru,  After coming under severe criticism for asking people to furnish their identity cards to get free meal packets from the Indira Canteens in the city, the Bengaluru civic body on Wednesday revised its rules and directed the canteens to distribute food to the people without asking for their ID cards.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) aims to distribute three lakh food packets free of cost per day (one lakh each during each mealtime) to ease the burden of the poor people.

After inspecting the first day's food distribution at the Indira Canteens in the city, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta told reporters that the beneficiaries will not have to produce any ID proof to collect free food packets from the Indira Canteens.

A BBMP order issued on Tuesday had stated that the poor, migrant workers and labourers will have to provide identification proof to obtain free food packets to be distributed till the end of the lockdown (May 24).

Noticing the trouble faced by the beneficiaries in obtaining the food packets, Gupta issued a clarification which said that ID proofs are not mandatory.

The beneficiaries can obtain the food packets without producing any identification proof till 24 May, the BMP statement said.

The statement added that the Indira Canteens in the BBMP limits are serving free food three times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) to the poor people and migrant workers until May 24, when the ongoing lockdown is scheduled to end.

To review the quality of food, Gupta on Wednesday visited the Indira Canteen kitchen in Dharmarayaswamy where he instructed the staff to maintain quality and follow all the Covid protocols.

There are 15 Indira Canteen kitchens in the city. The food prepared in these kitchens will be taken to the Indira Canteens set up in all the 198 wards from where they will be given to the beneficiaries.