We are not making a big issue of it, but I think that this has not happened only today, but it has been happening for the last four-five years. - Jaya Bachchan, Rajya Sabha member We are not making a big issue of it, but I think that this has not happened only today, but it has been happening for the last four-five years. - Jaya Bachchan, Rajya Sabha member

The highly subsidised food served in Parliament canteen might be a cause for envy but many lawmakers have complained that what is being served to them is unpalatable.

After a series of complaints poured in from a large number of MPs, the government ordered a quit quality check. An MP spends just Rs 18 for a vegetarian thali, a plate of biryani costs them nothing more than Rs 50 in the canteens run by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC).

While a few Rajya Sabha members raised the issue prompting the government to say it will look into the issue, several Lok Sabha members including Congress' Ravneet Singh Bittoo, AAP's Bhagwant Mann, CPIM's MB Rajesh and IUML's ET Mohd Basheer later told Mail Today that the quality of food served in the canteen and the Central Hall was bad and needed improvement.

JD(U) member K.C. Tyagi raised the issue in the upper house during Zero Hour saying SP members Ram Gopal Yadav and Jaya Bachchan had taken ill after eating food served in the Parliament canteen.

"Ram Gopalji was hospitalised for four days after eating canteen food. My sister Jaya Bachchan also suffered due to the food served here," Tyagi said in the House.

In a lighter vein he wondered if it was a conspiracy by the government to stop the opposition MPs from speaking during the Budget Session. Outside the Parliament, Yadav said if this continued he would stop eating anything from the canteen and would consume only tea.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu quickly assured the House that he would ask the officials concerned to look into the matter.

"We are not making a big issue of it, but I think that this has not happened only today, but it has been happening for the last four-five years," Jaya Bachchan said adding "They are serving us stale food."

Congress member Rajeev Shukla, who was a member of a parliamentary panel on food, said he had earlier suggested to move the kitchen to the Oarliament building. However, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad dismissed the complaint as a non-issue. "It is a non issue," he said.