Amma canteen model may head to land of pyramids

CHENNAI: After making waves in Tamil Nadu, Amma Unavagam (canteen), the pet project of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalitha has now drawn attention from the Egyptian government. Jayalalithaa is popularly referred to as ‘Amma’.

On Saturday, a delegation from the ministry of trade and industry visited an Amma canteen at the Government Hospital here in Chennai.

“We have been reading about these canteens online and in newspapers and we were very keen to study this model,” Eng Mohammed Adel Rezek, accreditation director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Government of Egypt, told ET.

“More than quality im convinced about the price and the fact that the government is doing this. We would like to replicate a similar model in our country,” he added.

He pointed out that even in America food stalls are available for economically weaker sections but Amma canteen is "better" than American food stalls

Tamil Nadu now has 203 canteens and another 200 will come up in the next few days. The Chennai Corporation is planning to take this number to 1,000 soon. These canteens serve items such as idlis, sambar and curd rice at subsidized rates. For instance, an idli costs Re 1 and sambar rice is sold at Rs 5 per plate.

About 1.5 lakh people, including office workers, walk into in these canteens daily, according to a senior official from the Chennai Corporation.

Municipal Corporations of other cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Jaipur, and New Delhi have also evinced interest in that Amma canteen scheme. Delegations from Hyderabad and Jaipur visited the canteens early this year.