Amma Unavagam (Amma Eatery):Amma Unavagam (meaning "Mother Restaurant" in Tamil) is a food subsidization program run by the Government of Tamil Nadu in India. :::: Rs 13 for two meals: Amma's canteens make Chennai smile

Amma Unavagam (Amma Eatery):Amma Unavagam (meaning "Mother Restaurant" in Tamil) is a food subsidization program run by the Government of Tamil Nadu in India.

Rs 13 for two meals: Amma's canteens make Chennai smile

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's heavily subsidized budget canteens have turned out to be a huge hit in Chennai.
In one stroke, Amma Unavagam (Amma Eatery) has delivered twin benefits.
The breakfast menu of idli sambar at Rs 1 per idli, and a lunch menu consisting of sambar rice (price Rs 5) and curd rice at Rs 3, has made the state's staple meals affordable for all.
And at the same time, the scheme has also successfully delivered maximum on the burp factor, months ahead of the next General Elections.

In a state which is usually viewed as a fountain-head of populist schemes, the latest scheme has won brownie points for making the rupee work more.
After all, if you have Rs 13 in your pocket, you can have two square meals a day.
Amma Eatery therefore makes a lot of economic sense for people across all sections of society, and some have even begun to dub it the 'people's canteen' .
Edwin, who works as a security guard in a commercial complex on Anna Salai, has been a regular at the Amma Eatery near SIET College for over two weeks now.
'I earn around Rs 10,000 a month, and because I can have two affordable meals daily, I am able to spend more on my son's college education,' he says. 

 

Ravi, a computer operator, lives in Villivakkam but his work takes him all over the city. 

'Earlier I would have had to spend Rs 60 to Rs 70 on a lunch at a street vendor's. But now I am able to eat hot, clean food which is not very expensive,' he says, pointing out to the carrots, drumsticks and other vegetables in his sambar rice at the Unavagam in Teynampet. 

'Today, when even basic vegetables like onion and potato are expensive and beyond reach, budget canteen is a boon for people like us and entire families can eat better,' he says. A number of working women also patronise the canteens.
Mohana's day as a house maid begins at 8 am and she has no breathing space until 12.
'I come to the Unavagam every day at 7. 45, spend Rs 5 and I am good for the next few hours,' she says.
'The lady I work for pays for the token, so everyone is happy,' she says with a smile.

Shobhana, who lives in Chindadripet works at a social marketing firm in San Thome. 

"I find the food both healthy and filling," she says digging into her meal, along with her friends Muthu, a systems support engineer and Madhi a viscom student. 

The trio say they eat at the budget canteen often. Another regular customer is Vijay, an outdoor advertising consultant, and he often shares the lunch table with an autorickshaw driver or a mechanic.
" The only thing lacking is a spoon, since the lunch is served piping hot," he says in accented English.

 

 

At 1.30 pm, half an hour after the canteen opened for lunch, there is hardly any standing room and the long queue spills out on to the road at the C P Ramaswamy Road Unavagam. 

A mix of students, blue and white collar workers all jam together. 

Until 3 pm, there is a steady flow of customers. Pallavaram-based B Balamurugan has brought his pregnant wife for a test in San Thome, and the couple is happy with the food at the Unavagam.
'We need to be extra careful now, but it is very hygienic here,' he says, with relief.
In one particular canteen, the used plates lie unattended. Clearly, someone is on leave.
The meals are available to all, and by not tagging the ration card as an eligibility criteria, the Amma Unavagams are helping rewrite many household budgets.
Economists will worry about the burden of the food subsidy, but the Unavagams are truly democratic - a rarity when you are ushering in welfare schemes.

 

 

Launched on February 19, there are 200 Amma's Eateries spread across all the 15 zones under the umbrella of the Chennai Corporation. 

All the eateries are housed in spacious rooms belonging to Chennai Corporation. The food is prepared by women belonging to the Self Help Group (SHG), and a hassle free token system ensures that the queue keeps moving.
The food is served in steel plates, in a hall furnished with circular tables and granite counters.
 Often, the crowds spill over, and in places like the eatery near the Light House, young men simply find a place on the floor .
There are fans but most do not work due to the power cut during the lunch hour. Clean drinking water and a separate wash area show that a lot of care has gone into designing these eateries.
 The unavagams are also generously stocked with fresh vegetables, rice, dal and other ingredients.

Complaints do crop up here and there. 

Deivasundaram from Nochikuppam says the sambar is watery on some days, and the idli forgets to fluff now and then, while Sekar, a fisherman says the food is loaded with ingredients, but often lacks in taste. 

There are complaints from school children that the breakfast counters do not always open at 7 am, and a 15 minute delay is common. 

The SHG workers handle such complaints with a finesse you would find in a star hotel F & B manager. The women merely smile and nod their heads, and say they aim to do better every day. On an average, each canteen prepares 40 kilos of rice every day and close to 200,000 idlis are sold daily.
In a state where the noon meal scheme for students was pioneered as a way of keeping children in school and improving literacy rates, the Amma Unavagam has come as a boon.

And there are demands for more. 

Some people want chutney, others pickle with the curd rice or a papad. 

Others want systems in place to ensure that hygiene and quality are not watered down in the coming days. 

But the biggest demand from many is for an evening snack or dinner service. Like Selvaraj, who has traveled from Trichy to Chennai for interviewing in a BPO. 'If we can get snacks or dinner, it will be great for travelers like me. I wish every city had such canteens, ' he says.
Top officials say Amma has more plans, and people can look forward to some appetizing announcements soon.

Amma Unavagam

Amma Unavagam

Type	Chain of Restaurant
Industry	Restaurant
Genre	South Indian Vegetarian Cuisine
Founded	2013
Founder	Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai Corporation
Headquarters	Chennai, India
Area served	Tamil Nadu
Key people	Jayalalithaa
Products	Food
Services	Fast Food and Take Away
Revenue	Non - Profit Organization
Owner	Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Website	Official Website

An Amma Unavagam outlet in Adyar, Chennai

Amma Unavagam (meaning "Mother Restaurant" in Tamil) is a food subsidization program run by the Government of Tamil Nadu in India. "Amma" means mother in Tamil but clearly here refers to the former Chief Minister Ms. J. Jayalalithaa, who introduced this restaurant concept aimed at helping the very poor sections of the society. By convention she is seldom mentioned by her name in the party and government circles but is reverentially referred to as "amma."
Under the scheme, municipal corporations of the state run canteens serving subsidized food at low prices.^[1]

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 About the scheme
• 2 Menu and prices
• 3 Controversies
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

About the scheme[edit]

Menu displayed in front of a canteen in Adyar, Chennai.

The scheme requires the Municipal Corporations in the state, with the help of self-help groups, to establish canteens at multiple places in cities and sell subsidized food at very low prices.^[2] The first canteens were opened in several localities of Chennai, and later in other corporations of the state. Three of the ten canteens in Coimbatore are partially solar powered.^[3]

Menu and prices[edit]

The food chains primarily serve South Indian food namely Idli, Sambar Rice, Curd Rice, Pongal, Lemon Rice, Curry leaf Rice and also Chapathi. The dishes are offered at low prices - ₹1 for an Idli, ₹5 for a plate of Sambar Rice and ₹3 for a plate of Curd Rice, etc.

Controversies[edit]

It has been reported that massive losses are incurred by the corporations offering food at such abysmally low rates. As an example, for Coimbatore Municipal Corporation, the loss was about ₹2.64 for an Idli, ₹9.73 for a unit of sambar rice and ₹4.44 for a unit of curd rice, thereby incurring a total loss of about ₹2.70 crore (US$430,000) a year.^[4] There was opposition in Tirunelveli to the release of funds for this scheme.^[5] Concerns are also raised about the harmful effects these corporation canteens might have on pushcart eateries. These tiny business ventures may not be able to withstand competition from government subsidized ultra low cost canteens on a long-term basis. ^[6]