The payment is made through cheques to the SHG that distributes the same to its members.Ĭritics argue that the scheme has severely affected the pushcart vendors. The women are members of a self-help group (SHG).Įach canteen employs 12-16 women, each of whom get a monthly salary of Rs. It provides employment to women, mostly the extremely poor, thereby empowering them. The scheme has some indirect benefits too. Information technology professionals and tourists also eat lunch at the canteens at a throw away price.
It is not unusual to see policemen, municipal staff and people from media having breakfast at the canteen. They serve people from different walks of life and belonging to different social classes. People from nearby villages, who come to purchase vegetables and fruits, have breakfast at the canteens. The Amma Canteen scheme is a boon for daily wage earners, casual workers, migrant labourers. State officials supervise the canteen closely and visit twice or thrice a month. Floors and walls of many canteens are lined with polished tiles. The plates are washed with hot water to keep them clean.
Further, food is prepared and served in a hygienic environment.
Even the teams from other countries have visited Tamil Nadu to study the scheme.Īmma Canteen Scheme made a frontal attack on urban hunger and malnutrition, as food is served at a highly subsidised price. The scheme attracted the attention of other states in the country. The popularity of the scheme can be assessed by the fact that these canteens daily prepare about 4.5 million idlies and 1.2 million plates of pongal for breakfast, 2.5 million plates of sambar rice and 1.1 million plates of curd rice for lunch. Presently, about 400 canteens are functioning in the state. On the other hand, to make the scheme more effective it modified the scheme to meet the challenges posed by the second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. To avoid the displeasure of general public, they did not dare change the name of the scheme. In 2021, when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a rival party, was voted to power, instead of diluting the scheme, the new government announced it will start another 200 canteens in semi-urban areas over time. The Amma Canteen scheme was launched in February 2013 by then chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalitha, a leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Tamil Nadu’s Amma Canteen scheme is one such programme. In such case, even if the rival party is voted to power, it will not meddle with the welfare scheme of the previous government. In fact, people start perceiving that it is their right to enjoy those benefits.
In such an environment, a welfare scheme is likely to be continued if the same party is in power for a long period of time and people realise the benefits of such a welfare scheme. Once a party is voted to power, it tries to implement populist measures in toto or with some modification.Įach party knows very well that its chances of being voted back to power depends a lot on the extent of successful implementation of its populist scheme.Ī rival party voted to power usually discontinues the populist scheme of the previous government or dilutes its popularity in the belief that it reduces its chances of getting re-elected. In India, it is very common for political parties to include populist welfare schemes in their election manifesto.
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