Kumari Palany & Co

No. of views : (2716)

Hereafter, will the Amma canteens in Chennai operate or not?

Posted on: 22/Mar/2023 9:26:32 AM
There has been a drastic fall in the number of customers going to Amma canteens in chennai and revenue from these canteens now. This was as per a survey carried out by GCC. It must be noted that the Amma canteens in Chennai were noted and appreciated by other states and other countries too.

Over the years, the loss from these canteens have increased and this has led to some doubts whether these canteens would operate or not.  The Chennai Mayor R. Priya has clearly mentioned in the Corporation Council meeting that there were no plans to shut down the Amma canteens now.

It has been brought out by a survey conducted from 7th to 16th March 2023 that the Ama canteens in 7 out of total of 15 GCC zones did not meet the sales target.

From Rs 40 cr income and a loss of Rs 51 cr in 2014-15, the Amma canteens or eateries recorded a decrease in the income of  Rs 18 cr and Rs 95 cr loss in 20212-22.

The poor patronage at the Amma canteens in Chennai has led to large quantities of leftover foods now. At the Amma canteen located in Tondiarpet 120 people come for breakfast and about 20 to 30 people come for lunch and dinner. This was pointed out by an employee of the Amma canteen here.

A senior official from the GCC spoke about how the HC of Madras had asked the GCC to furnish the details of the food that was provided to the public. Truth is that GCC does not have those details. Later on, a baseline survey was conducted and monthly data regarding the patronage was also collected.

It must be taken into account that in the November 2022 Corporation Council meeting Mr. Dhanasekaran had found out that GCC has incurred a loss of Rs 786 crores in the Amma canteens for the last 9 years. He wanted these canteens to be shut down.

It must be recalled that there is some controversy about the survey conducted by the GCC recently as the questionnaire had some questions regarding the caste and religion of the customers etc.