The Hindu               03.06.2013

Amma canteens open to ‘sumptuous’ response

CM inaugurates eateries via videoconferencing.

Amma Unavagams, the budget canteens which have proved a hit in Chennai, opened to an overwhelming response from city residents on Sunday. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa declared open the canteens through videoconferencing from Chennai.

The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation will be in charge of maintaining and running the canteens in the city. The canteens have been set up at Jan Bazaar, Kuppankulam, Rockins Road, Puthur Overhead Water Tank, Anna Nagar Overhead Water Tank, Jaganathapuram, Viragupettai, Melkalkandaar Kottai, and Salai Road, Woraiyur. Ms.Jayalalithaa will inaugurate the Unavagam in Srirangam, during a visit to her constituency on Monday.

The canteens will function between 7:00 and 10:00 am and 12 noon to 3:00 pm. An idli is priced at Re.1, sambhar rice at Rs.5 and curd rice at Rs.3. The menu is likely to be expanded further to cater to the needs of the public.

“I’m happy that Amma Unavagam has finally been inaugurated in Tiruchi. As soon as I heard about it, I rushed here with my two daughters to sample the food. It’s affordable and tasty too,” said Kalarani Balasubramaniyan, a housewife. The fact that there is no parcel service available at the canteen is disheartening for the public, especially patients admitted at the Government Hospital in the city. “It would be useful for patients if they could get food during the night and if a parcel service was available here,” said Sivagami Ayyappan, who visited the Amma Unavagam near the hospital.

T.P.Poonachi, Minister for Khadi and Village Industries, Jayashree Muralidharan, Collector, A. Jaya, Mayor, P.Kumar, MP, R.Manoharan, Government Chief Whip, and N.R. Sivapathy and M. Paranjothi were present at Rockins Road Amma Unavagam during the inaugural.