New Delhi, Aug 16 — Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday launched 25 new Atal Canteens in the national capital on the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, taking the total number of canteens under the scheme to 100.
The ceremony was also attended by former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP's Manoj Tiwari and Minister Ashish Sood among others.
Speaking at the occasion, CM Gupta said: "It is a very fortunate day for us that the resolve we had taken during the birth centenary year of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, to follow the path shown by him and implement the vision he spoke about - that every individual in society should be taken care of, is being fulfilled with the 'Atal Canteen' scheme."
She said that the occasion marks the completion of 100 Atal Canteens in the capital city.
"Today is truly a very important day. The leader, the personality named Atal Bihari Vajpayee, devoted himself completely to the service of the country and worked day and night for the nation. Whether he was the Leader of the Opposition, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Prime Minister of the country, or our beloved leader, he always taught us one thing: everyone in the country must be taken along, and every individual must be cared for," the Delhi CM stated.
Referring to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay's lines, she said: "It is very important to take care of the person who is at the end of the queue. Accordingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always mentioned 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and walking on that path, when the BJP came to power in Delhi after 27 years, we started this scheme."
"100 Atal Canteens in Delhi (have been launched) during the birth centenary year of Atal Bihar Vajpayee ji, where we have resolved to serve food to 1000 people at each of the canteens every day, throughout 365 days, without a single holiday," she mentioned.
CM Gupta added: "Therefore, the Atal Canteens are meant to serve about three crore and sixty-five lakh people who are poor, needy and work as labourers."
Praising the scheme, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said: "When PM Modi took the resolve that no one in the country would go hungry and started providing foodgrains to 80 crore people, CM Rekha Gupta decided that no one in Delhi would go to bed hungry."
Atal Canteen scheme was launched by the Delhi government on December 25, 2025, marking the birth anniversary of Vajpayee, and serves nutritious meals at Rs 5 per plate.