Chennai: The role of Amma Canteens during lockdown

Dharshana Kathiresan, INN/Chennai, @Infodeaofficial 

Welfare services come as a rescue to the underprivileged sections of the society, especially during this miserable health crisis, where there so many people looking forward to the help of officials and social workers. The constructive execution of such schemes often lie in the hands of the functionaries.

One such example can be quoted as the work done by the ‘Amma Canteens’ of Tamilnadu. After the announcement of lockdown, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) announced on 23 April that Amma Canteens over the city will be providing free food till the end of the lockdown. An official spokesperson of GCC said that it is open to donations from NGOs, people, and companies under corporate social responsibility.

“Hunger is a bigger problem than the virus itself in a lot of places and that is why we came up with this announcement. Also, we made it available to everyone because many people who are working are also not being paid. We don’t want anyone to go hungry in the city,” said the official. This move by the city corporation was lauded by many in the country.

This is the second time that Amma Canteens have effectively responded to a crisis. When Chennai was hit by Cyclone Vardah in 2016, the canteens remained open across the city, providing free food to anyone who came in.

In normal times, the Amma Canteens in the city spend Rs 17 lakh per day to run the eateries. The canteens provide idli (Rs 1) for breakfast, variety rice (lemon rice/curry leaf rice; Rs 3) and pongal with sambar (Rs 5) for lunch and chapatis with dal for dinner (Rs 3). An average of 250 customers walk into a Amma Canteen for every meal. These subsidised eateries are a boon to the urban poor.

From March 24 till the end of April, the 407 outlets spread across the city, have delivered 1.48 crore idlis, 53 lakh variety rice packs and 37 lakh chapatis.The contributions from private corporations and the general public have aided this initiative in a great manner.

A variety of people such as truck drivers, guest workers, and also men and women from middle and upper middle classes could be seen arriving to eat. During this period the canteens also allowed the customers to take away food, in order to maintain the crowd.

According to the free sales report from April 23 to May 17 and May 20 to May 28, the MLAs and Ministers paid ₹3.84 crore towards free food for the city residents. As many as 84.58 lakh people visited Amma Canteens during this period.

Earlier, during the month of April the Central Government’s Swachh Bharat Mission tweeted, “Amma Canteens are doing a phenomenal job in serving food for the needy in Tamilnadu. The nation salutes its efforts.”

In 2013, the CM, J.Jayalalitha, launched this plan to address the hunger issue prevailing in streets. This soon created a buzz across other states like Delhi, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Karnataka, replicating the model. GCC has also been taking efforts to make the canteens financially self-sustainable.

Recently, the Amma Canteens announced that from June 1, it will collect money for food supplied in the city, as the national lockdown comes to an end at most fronts. Zonal assistant health officers in all the 15 zones of the city on Sunday directed self-help groups to stop supply of free food in the canteens.

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