Four Atal Canteens that had served no meals after Saturday evening reopened for lunch on Tuesday – hours after a report on the closures appeared in The Indian Express.The canteens, part of the Delhi government’s flagship social welfare initiative to serve wholesome thali meals to the city’s poor for just Rs 5, were closed after the contractor failed to get LPG for his commercial connection amid the ongoing shortage of cooking gas and the rationing imposed to tide over the crisis.The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the statutory body that is entrusted with running the Atal Canteens, had written to the Delhi government on Monday requesting uninterrupted supply of cooking fuel to the 73 canteens around the city.On Tuesday, the Department of Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs of the Delhi government responded, reassuring the DUSIB CEO in a letter that the “Atal Canteen scheme…is being accorded high priority by the OMC (oil marketing companies) for supply of LPG…and they would not face any shortage of LPG in future.”Also Read | Cops carry out raids against LPG black marketing at 5 sites in Delhi, 5 heldSenior government officials told The Indian Express that all four canteens – in Nehru Nagar, Kalkaji, Anna Nagar, and RK Puram – reopened on Tuesday. Lunch was served to 300 people in Kalkaji, 214 in Anna Nagar, and 187 in Nehru Nagar, they said, based on data that are collected through face recognition of every visitor and is sent to DUSIB in real time.Some 23,400 meals were served for lunch at Atal Canteens across the city on Tuesday, the officials said.“We have made fuel available to the caterer [serving the four canteens that had been shut], and the kitchen is running smoothly now. We will soon have a viable established connection so that this does not happen in the future,” a senior official said.Story continues below this adForty-five Atal Canteens were inaugurated on December 25, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last year. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated the first canteen in Nehru Nagar. She said that the government’s intention was to ensure that people could eat with dignity.The Atal Canteens serve meals of rice, roti, dal, a vegetable, and a pickle for lunch from 11.30 am to 2 pm, and for dinner from 6.30 pm to 9 pm.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Delhi news