Amma Unavagam: Rs. 5 lakh / day to feed 1.5 lakh poor

Pandian, a painter, was at the Amma Unavagam in Velachery (in Chennai) for the first time. It was a holiday and Pandian wanted to check out the breakfast of Idli (Re. 1/plate) and Pongal (Rs. 5/plate). Pandian was satisfied after his breakfast. The taste was good. “Nalla irukku,” he said. And he would have had to shell out at least Rs. 30 in a restaurant for the same food – an amount that burns quite a hole in his earnings.

Located opposite the 1400-year-0ld Dhandeeswaranathar temple, the Velachery Amma Unavagam run by the Chennai Corporation is one of some 200 low-cost restaurants run by the Chennai Corporation. These restaurants have been a big hit with the masses, offering the itinerant workers, daily-wage earners and many others an affordable, hygienic restaurant.

Many of them have become regular Anna Unavagam patrons. Kishen, a migrant labourer who works at an upmarket restaurant on Velachery Main Road, is one. His verdict on the food: “Achcha hai.”  Pandian too will become a regular like Kishen.

Inaugurated on Feb. 19, 2013, the number of these outlets had, by early April, climbed to 200 in Chennai. The Velachery Unavagam is one among those which were inaugurated on April 2. Two months later, the concept was extended to nine other municipal corporations in the State and each corporation has 10 such restaurants.

The restaurants offer idli between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sambar rice is served at Rs.5 a plate and curd rice at Rs. 3 a plate between noon and 3 p.m. In Chennai, the eateries provide pongal at Rs. 5 a plate in the morning and lemon rice or karuveppilai rice at Rs. 5 a plate in the afternoon.   

According to a conservative estimate of a Corporation official, the 200 restaurants serve two lakh persons every day. If one were to take into account the possibility of one person coming to the restaurants more than once, the net figure is around 1.5 lakh, representing the economically weaker sections.  This means the Amma Unavagams are already covering some 20 per cent of the Below Poverty Line population in Chennai – estimated at 6.5 lakh, or 10 per cent of the total city population. The nine other corporations across the State benefit another 50,000 persons.

The government’s initiative seems to have acted as a price deflator. Some leading restaurants across the State have reduced prices of certain items such as coffee and meals, though they do not attribute their move to the Unavagams.  

The government’s plan to scale up and increase the number of Amma Unavagams five-fold in Chennai may face challenges, however. Officials admit that the availability of buildings will be a problem as the local body has virtually exhausted its unutilised lands and buildings for the existing Unavagams. Finding places to house the future restaurants would increase the capital costs.

Another challenge would be in procuring the additional quantities of rice that would be required – as many of the items are rice-related. [Of course, chapathi, a wheat-based offering, is likely to be introduced soon in Chennai.] The Union government, seeing the relevance of the programme, should make an exclusive allotment of rice for the State, officials say.

Average Daily Expenses in Chennai for Amma Unavagam
Total	Rs. 14 lakh
Rice	Rs. 11, 670
Labour	Rs. 8, 40, 000
Fuel	Rs. 2, 26, 000
Other Components	Rs. 3, 22, 000
Average Daily Revenue in Chennai	Rs. 9 lakh

Serving up with Zeal
Content	Cost of Production	Selling price
Idly	Rs. 1. 86	Rs. 1
Rice	Rs. 10.54	Rs. 5
Pongal / Curd rice	Rs. 3.08	Rs. 3
Where are the ingredients comes from
Rice @ Re. 1/kg from Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC)
Urad Dhal, Toor Dhal and edible oil from TNCSC @ Rs. 30/kg, Rs. 70/kg and Rs. 90/kg
Curd from Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation @ Rs. 40 / litre
Vegetables from open market or Cooperative stores

Losses absorbed (approx) by Corporations daily due to Amma Unavagam
1	Chennai	Rs. 5, 00, 000
2	Salem	Rs. 67, 769
3	Tirunelveli	Rs. 65, 808
4	Madurai	Rs. 54, 225
5	Tirupur	Rs. 46, 026
6	Erode	Rs. 44, 613
7	Tuticorin	Rs. 42, 231
8	Vellore	Rs. 32, 036
9	Tiruchi	Rs. 28, 024
10	Coimbatore	Rs. 22. 045