Business Line              04.06.2013

Budget canteen comes to Coimbatore

One major problem of the common man seems to have been addressed with the opening of the Amma Unavagams (budget canteens) in Coimbatore on Sunday.

People were seen waiting restlessly for the supplies to commence at least an hour before the formal inauguration of the canteen at the New Bus Stand on Mettupalayam Road here.

The women’s group involved in the preparation of food and maintenance of the canteen in the said location were equally excited about the catering project.

They had prepared the food – sambar and curd rice, ahead of schedule and waiting for the officials from the District Administration and Coimbatore Corporation to visit the canteen.

A sense of excitement was in the air, with onlookers peeping in to see the facilities. “To begin with, idli and sambar will be sold in the mornings and sambar and curd rice for lunch,” a member of the group told Business Line.

The Corporation had chosen 15 women SHGs to undergo two-day training in Chennai. “We visited the unavagams in Chennai, learnt how the food was prepared at the different places and served. It was a learning experience,’ said Parvathi, canteen supervisor.

Budget canteens were opened at different places in the city. According to a Government Order, the Corporation would sell an idli for Re 1, sambar rice for Rs 5 and curd rice for Rs. 3.

Asked if such budget restaurants would affect their business, some ladies, who were running a mess said that this was no threat to their business.