New Delhi, Aug 6 - A nominal sum charged for a quality meal would be more appreciated by the poor people than a free meal and help in setting up more such kitchens for the city's poor, says a social expert.

Harsh Mander, special commissioner of the Supreme Court on the Right to Food campaign, said here Thursday he is in talks with the government to charge a nominal amount in exchange of a quality meal so that the 'Aap ki Rasoi' project is more feasible in the long run.

'The Aap ki Rasoi concept is a good one and an old one too. The free food distributed in gurdwaras or other religious places is the same thing... However, even for a poor person the concept of free food is not a respectable one,' Mander said at a conference on the Delhi government's welfare schemes.

'I have worked with the homeless for years now, so I know that.