Necessary for having a 'food providing' canteen or only making 'premises' available for having food?

Dear All, I work for a pharma industry. The employee strength is 650+. Is it necessary for having a 'food providing' canteen or only making 'premises' available for having food, suffice.
Suhas

Hi,
Please go through the factories act so that you will come to what to be establish,
i think need to be provide canteen to employees if the employee number is more than 250.

If yours is factory and your state govt has made rules u/s 46 of the Factories Act you have to provide & maintain a canteen itself as per the rules.It is not necessary that you should purchase the raw materials and recruit employees for the canteen.You can run it through a contractor.
Varghese Mathew

Since your company is having strength more than 250, it is obligatory to provide a canteen as per Factories Act 1948

Dear

The Provision of section 46 of the Factories Act, 1948 is dealing with the provision of Canteen in all factories wherein 250 workers are ordianarily working, hence it is mandatory to provide the canteen in your company. Apart from this it should be consisting of a Dining Hall to the scale of 12 Square feet per worker with proper sitting arrangements, a water cooler, A dry Store, Area for Utensils wash and a Pantry. further i have reproduced the provision as stipulated in the Act as below.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for—

(a) the date by which such canteen shall be provided;

(b) the standards in respect of construction, accommodation, furniture and other equipment of the canteen;

(c) the foodstuffs to be served therein and the charges which may be made therefor;

(d) the constitution of a managing committee for the canteen and representation of the workers in the management of the canteen;

4[(dd) the items of expenditure in the running of the canteen which are not to be taken into account in fixing the cost of foodstuffs and which shall be borne by the employer;]

I think it will be helpful to you to better know the provision of the Act.

Regards

R B Yadav

Advocate

As per the factories Act 1948 welfare facilities such as rest rooms, canteen facilities,toilets,washing area, should be provided by the management. Canteen can be run by out side contractor or management should run the canteen. It is better to outsource the canteen facility.

Since it is a pharma company which may involve chemicals, the food items can be cooked nearby outside and served at the dining hall during the food timings.
M.Venkatraghavan

What is the minimum employees to have canteen in office (registered in shops and establishment act) in city? Who has to run the canteen?