Jayalalithaa adds flavoured dishes to low budget 'Amma' canteen

CHENNAI: Adding flavoured dishes to the low-cost 'Amma' canteens, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced the introduction of new menus, including pongal, roti, lemon rice and curry leaves rice.
Making a statement in the Assembly, the chief minister also announced the expansion of such canteens in nine more city corporations in the state.
The low cost eateries have become popular among the public, offering idly at Re one, sambar rice at Rs 5 and curd rice at Rs 3. It will now include in its menu two rotis for Rs 3, pongal, lemon rice and curry leaves rice for Rs 5 each.
The chief minister said she took the decision too add these items to the menu following requests from the public.
Jayalalithaa said pongal (a rice dish seasoned with whole peppers) will be served in the mornings, while curry leaves rice and lemon rice will be offered in the afternoon. Rotis will be served in the evenings. The canteens are quite popular with migrant workers, hailing from outside Tamil Nadu, and working on construction sites in the city.
However, Jayalalithaa said introduction of rotis will take some time since the government has to float tenders for procuring roti-making machines. "From this September, roti with dal will be offered in all 200 canteens in the City", she added.
The low budget canteen was inaugurated by Jayalalithaa this February and it was expanded to 200 in few weeks. Women Self Help Groups help run the canteens - they cook, serve and manage them.
On the expansion plans, Jayalalithaa said services of low cost eateries will be extended in Madurai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Salem, Tiruppur, Tuticorin, Vellore and Erode city Corporations by the month-end. "A total of ten canteens will be inaugurated in each of these cities,' she said.