Chennai: This finding would have saved the day for Congress leader Raj Babbar who was severely criticised by civil society for claiming that a meal could be had for Rs. 12 in Mumbai.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has initiated a scheme in nine cities in which people can have high-quality meal for just Rs. 8. Surprisingly, breakfast costs just Re1.
The Amma Canteen in Kilpak area is often flooded with people, sometimes as early as 6:00 in the morning. The reason for that is the food pricing which is unmatchable. The timings for breakfast are from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. for clean and nutritious food.
High-quality pongal and idlis are served for breakfast. In the lunch that is served from 12 noon to 3am, curd and rice are served for Rs. 3 where as sambhar and rice is served for Rs. 5. Together, a filling lunch costs Rs. 8. There are 200 such canteens in the city.
The eatery was opened for poor, but now even the privileged class is not shy of eating at these canteens. A commerce student said that he is saving his money by eating at these places.
The management of the canteen is done by the municipal corporation. The whole system operates under the leadership of IAS Vikram Kapoor. Before joining the administrative services, he had completed an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. He is putting his managerial skills to best use in the program.
“Nearly 20 per cent people of Chennai lives below the poverty line. That means 6 lakh people are extremely poor in the city. We are serving 1.5 lakh people daily. We would extend the programme by opening 1000 such canteens.”
According to him the government is spending around Rs. 14 lakh daily to run the canteens.
