Allocated more for Amma canteens: Min Nehru

CHENNAI: State municipal administration minister K N Nehru on Thursday informed the State Assembly that the incumbent DMK regime did not contemplate closing down Amma Canteens even once and the government has allocated more for the scheme.

Intervening during the debate on demand for grants for his department in the Assembly, Nehru said, "Not once has the government contemplated the closure of Amma Canteens."

Pointing out that Amma Canteens were mostly doing business for around Rs 4,000 per month, while the staff at the canteens are required to be paid Rs 6,000 towards salary, Nehru said that the government was giving job to the staff on rotation basis in the canteens and the opposition must not politicise the issue.

Nehru was responding to the charge of AIADMK whip S P Velumani, who, while participating in the debate on the demand for grants, said that the state government led by then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami made an allocation of Rs 100 crore for Amma canteens to support the local bodies to run the scheme, but not budgetary allocation has been made by the incumbent government for a service-oriented scheme.

Rushing to the defence of his whip, Leader of Opposition Palaniswami said that the Amma canteens were supplied substandard products, which has affected the food quality and related decline in patronage. Intervening during the debate, Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the government would look into the issue if the LoP levelled criticism with evidence.

Dismissing the LoP's contention that the media had reported about the supply of substandard products to Amma Canteens, the CM asked the LoP not to fall for the campaign of a section of the media. Bringing Greater Chennai Corporation's budgetary allocation to his defence, Nehru said that the city corporation has allocated Rs 129 crore in the just presented budget for Amma Canteens despite them only netting a revenue of Rs 15 crore.