UK's 'pampered' Parliamentarians waste subsidised food even as children go hungry: Reports

People in Britain are furious with their MPs for wasting thousands of kilos of subsidised meals, even when the common people are struggling with soaring price rises and food poverty. India, in contrast, ended the subsidy for food in Parliament canteen in 2021.

London: At a time when the world overall is facing an economic crisis, following the long and deadly Covid-19 pandemic, and many people are struggling to have two square meals a day, a shocking picture has come up from the United Kingdom. According to Britis media reports, the news of UK's "pampered" Parliamentarians wasting 2.6 million subsidised meals has shocked and angered the public, who has been facing the brunt of economic crisis.

According to a report by Mirror UK, in a period of 6 years, a whopping 1.23 million kg of food was binned by UK's MPs and Lords. The same report also mentions that the MPs have got an 11% pay hike this year, whereas "more than two million hard-up adults admit often going without food for an entire day," says Mirror report. 

Social media is abuzz with the video of a woman who works at a UK school cafeteria who has said that she is dreading going back to work in October when she has to deny children food because they have no money. The woman, who was speaking at a rally in Manchester, was seen breaking down before the camera.

"I didn't take the job on to starve children."

This dinner lady is dreading going back to work in October and fears many of the school's pupils will not be able to afford lunch. @eiecampaign pic.twitter.com/UF5zbBxk7x

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) August 30, 2022

The city of Manchester has seen large-scale protests in recent weeks against rising inflation, unemployment, poor housing and food poverty. 

A Twitter handle @brawday shared the "latest menu from the House of Commons MPs' dining room". (Zee News can't verify the tweet). Check the tweet below:

latest menu from the House of Commons MPs dining room pic.twitter.com/R9Gf2v9Bsw — The Lady J of Tay (@brawday) August 28, 2022

Meanwhile, in contrast, India in 2021, ended the subsidy at the parliament canteen. With the end of the food subsidy in the Parliament, most items cost the same as market rates. At that time, the then Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had announced that the food subsidy is stopping. Sources told news agency PTI that the Lok Sabha Secretariat can annually save more than Rs 8 crore with the subsidy coming to an end. India also has an impressive midday meal scheme, a school meal programme designed to improve the nutritional standing of school-going children nationwide. While the official name has undergone changes, under this programme, free lunches are supplied to children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government aided schools, among other educational institutions.