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The subsidy in Parliament canteen, which is run by Northern Railways, came up during discussion at a meeting of party leaders chaired by Birla in December last year. At least two leaders said that Birla wanted to know how much subsidy is given to Parliament canteen and how many MPS eat their regularly.

Birla was told that the subsidy for the previous year ran into ₹17 crore but that very few MPS have lunch in the canteen during the session.

During an informal interaction with HT last week, the Speaker also indicated that some food items might be dropped in the revised list as there is limited demand for such items.

From boiled vegetables to kesari bath, the canteen now serves a total of 48 food items for lunch and evening snacks. But items such as poha, mutton cutlet or bonda are not available regularly. According to canteen officials, the vegetarian thali (₹40) and chapattis (₹2 each) are the most sought-after food in the Parliament complex.

According to data available with Lok Sabha officials, out of the ₹17 crore subsidy, only ₹24 lakh was spent on account of the MPS. The rest was accounted for by visitors, security personnel, government officials, and journalists covering Parliament. During a session, an average of 4,500 people eat daily at Parliament.

In 2015, the then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan approved a proposal to abolish subsidy on parliament food and run the canteens on a no-profitno-loss basis. The decision came after years of public criticism that the canteen used to serve a plate of chicken curry for ₹29 or dal for just ₹2.

Those prices have since been increased. Now, a fruit salad is sold for ₹10 while chicken curry costs ₹50. A masala dosa is priced at ₹20.

The functionary also added that so far, no vendor has been finalised to replace Northern Railways in the canteen.

A query under the Right To Information Act revealed that between 2010 and 2015, the canteen received a subsidy of ₹60.7 crore.