 "No food inflation for members of Parliament")
One of my favourite videos on YouTube is a take on the canteen on the Death Star. Since the Death Star was almost a city, a country, there must have been a canteen for the ‘residents’ to eat in, shouldn’t there? Of course there was, and Eddie Izzard tells us, using Lego animation, what the experience must have been like for Darth Vader. I’ve never thought of what our Members of Parliament did for lunch or whether there was, indeed, a canteen for them, because most of the time the House is adjourned before it was lunch time. [caption id=“attachment_54085” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“When meals are so subsidised in the Parliament House canteen, no wonder our MPs don’t care about food price inflation. PTI”]
[/caption]Yesterday, things were different. Parliament functioned, and there were involved debates and discussions on inflation, especially food price inflation. And the debates went on and on and I got to thinking about what the MPs would eat and where they would eat… … and, of course, thanks to the debate on rising prices, how much a meal cost them. And I googled — and I found the priced list for the meals at Parliament House. Guess inflation and rising food prices don’t affect them too much. Parliament House Canteen rates • Tea Re. 1 • Soup Rs.5.50 • Dal — one katori Rs. 1.50 • Veg thali (dal, subzi, 4 chapatis, rice/pulao, curd and salad) Rs. 12.50 • Non-veg thali Rs. 22 • Curd rice Rs. 11 • Veg pulao Rs. 8 • Chicken biryani Rs. 34 • Fish curry and rice Rs. 13 • Rajma rice Rs. 7 • Tomato rice Rs. 7 • Fish fry Rs. 17 • Chicken curry Rs. 20.50 • Chicken masala Rs. 24.50 • Butter chicken Rs. 27 • Chapati Re. 1 a piece • One plate rice Rs. 2 • Dosa Rs. 4 • Kheer - one katori Rs. 5.50 • Fruit cake Rs. 9.50 • Fruit salad Rs. 7 And I just paid Rs. 26 for a missal-pao…
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.