AMMA CANTEENS-ANOTHER SOCIO ECONOMIC INITIATIVE IN TAMILNADU

Populist schemes like distributing food grains for a rupee per kg are considered the benchmark for the credentials of governments at the Center as well in the states for their "love" and "commitment" to the common man who is synonymous with poverty and destitution in this "Maha" country! Look at the tearing hurry with which the present government in Delhi (GoI) is trying to push through a half baked, ill conceives and an unworkable food security bill in the Parliament solely for garnering votes from the people who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of this monstrous scheme without proper discussion among the law makers regarding the logistics, infrastructure and financial resources needed! This is all the more reprehensible considering that the existing dilapidated and leaky Public Distribution System (PDS), despite its existence for more than 5 decades  has not made any dent on the poverty level among the vulnerable segments of the population.

It is a tragedy of Himalayan proportion that the "rulers" in this country always look for scapegoats for all their failures and the story of PDS is also the same. While the Center blames the states for the ills of the program, States in turn point an accusing finger to Center for lack of support from it fr their endeavor. Caught in between are the targeted beneficiaries who are deprived of their legitimate share of food grains shown in the "account" books. According to independent observers the pilferage of grains from the government granaries is as high as 65% in some states and surprisingly the planning commission does not seem to be too much worried about this aspect. Now comes the Rs1-2 per kg food grain distribution program with the planners having hazy idea regarding the implementation of this massive dole out program. This only highlights the fact that all government schemes look good on paper but suffer from bad implementation because of the lax attitude of the bureaucracy that runs these programs. Imagine how hurting it would be for the economy of this country when almost Rs 1.26 lakh crore is spent on this grandiose scheme which is unlikely to succeed in its objectives and instead end up as a "rewarding" scheme for thousands of politicians, bureaucrats and criminals!

The recent launching of another populist scheme in Tamil Nadu at Chennai that is supposed to help low income group of people get cheap food preparations in low cost vending kiosks is indeed timely. In theory it is a good scheme because the run away prices of restaurant foods are excluding a substantial segment of the population in the city from the "eating out" pleasure and the most vulnerable people like workers, students and many service providers are hard hit by the hyper inflation of hotel food prices. While government does not want or is not able to rein in the high profit hotel industry, the new scheme seems to be a soft option. While concept wise it may be a good attempt how far logistically it is practical remains to be seen.

According to the media reports Chennai Civic Corporation is setting up a series of low cost canteens across this City to be christened Amma Canteens and residents of all the wards will have access to these low cost eateries offering some of the popular dishes at prices which are ridiculously low making one wonder who is subsidizing these foods. These eateries are expected to sell idlis ar Re 1 per piece while other preparations like sambar rice, curd rice etc priced at Rs-3-5 per serving. It appears the Corporation has completed the process of identifying 127 buildings in various wards, where these canteens will be located to supplement 73 such eateries already commissioned earlier. Eventually there would be 200 such Amma Canteens, one for each ward. The Corporation's ambitious project is claimed to be targeted at providing healthy food at reasonable prices to residents living in slums, daily laborers, drivers, load-men and migrant workers which is indeed laudable.

If the project officials are to be believed about 2,400 women belonging to self-help groups (SHG) in the city would take up the responsibility of cooking, serving and managing the canteens and these women are being trained for this task. The Corporation claims that since its beginning in February this year the Amma Canteens already operating in various wards have served more than 20 lakh idlis, 5 lakh sambar rice dishes and more than 3 lakh curd rice dishes.Though no evaluation of the relevance, need and response of the customers has yet been done, from the volume of business achieved it appears to be popular. Quality and safety are the main criteria that will decide whether this venture can thrive and serve the purpose for which it is set up.

Some of the critical issue that will confront the organizers include the sustainability of the scheme, its continued funding, availability of right personnel for management, maintaining quality and ensuring safety of the preparations served in these places. Since it has Corporation blessings, there would be nagging suspicion that food safety standards may not be strictly enforced and such a situation can be dangerous for the customers in the long run.Government must ensure that safety of food served is not compromised under any circumstances. Another issue which will crop up is whether one canteen per ward would be adequate to meet the need of the residents there and if the food quality is on par with that sold in private restaurants these canteens may become over crowded inviting severe management problem. Restricting the access to customers other than low income group may not be practical and the state government may be left with no option but expand this operation manifold and spread the scheme in other major towns in the state.

A similar venture in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala being managed by the Prison authorities is reported to be doing extremely well though its modus operadi is slightly different. Another difference is that the Kerala venture does not sell the products made by prison inmates at such low prices and it is self supporting project. Besides the range of foods sold by them is much more diverse compared to Chennai project and their sale model is based on mobile vans which distribute the fresh preparation in different parts of that city. But the fact still remains that such type of projects are indeed welcome to give relief to the much harassed public who are continuously being milked by the organized hotel industry remorselessly!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"CHEAP" EATERIES FOR LOW COST FOODS-THE CHENNAI INITIATIVE

The most difficult process of selecting an eatery, when a family goes for an outing for food, is the quality of food served though cleanliness and safety also are factors that do weigh in the minds of customers. Recent trend in India is for the catering joints to raise the prices of items served, indiscriminately for no rhyme or reason, though the food inflation has dipped into the negative zone. Even a small restaurant is charging its customers exorbitantly making it difficult for low income families to eat outside their home more frequently. Pressure of work, inadequate leisure time and other compulsions make outside eating inevitable whether one likes it or not. Under such a difficult situation there is an urgent need for making the cateing sector realize the folly of continuing with such a suicidal course of "killing the Goose that lays golden egg". To some extent the street vendors are providing relief to such harassed citizens by serving foods at reasonable price though their preparation and serving environment cannot be called satisfactory.

In spite of lot of talk and after hundreds of conferences on street foods, nothing precious has happened to modernize the street vending sector and most vendors in almost all cities and towns across the country continue in despicable state. Surprisingly their clientele is only growing by leaps and bounds and they include even well heeled people who just cannot resist the hot steaming food and many tasty preparations doled out by them. In countries like Malaysia, Pakistan etc there are food plazas in strategic places where the erstwhile street vendors are aggregated into a single place, easy and convenient for the customers. These plazas are adequately equipped with the necessary wherewithal to maintain good hygiene and sanitation besides other facilities so necessary to prevent food related episodes of serious nature occuring. This trend is yet to appear in India and the haphazard  street vending food industry continues to languish with potential danger to the health of millions of regular customers.

The Food Truck movement in the US is an offshoot of the "arrogance" and "insensitivity" of the established catering industry which never bothered to provide customized service expected from them besides increasing the price of their offerings to unreasonable levels unacceptable to many customers. To day the Food Truck business is posing a direct challenge to the established players in many cities across the US. It is time Indian catering sector sees the writing on the wall and address the concerns of its patrons who provide "bread and butter" for its survival! It is entirely possible that in India also a Food Truck movement may start eventually to give a better and more affordable alternative to the much harassed Indian customers. 

Maximum exploitation of citizens and their vulnerability takes place in religious and pilgrim centers where the customers are "fleeced" till they bleed with no succour coming from the local civic authorities and food being an essential item for survival the visitors are literally "extorted" to pay whatever is demanded for keeping their body and soul together! Same is true in bus stations and Railway platforms across the country where it is "free for all" situation with the monopoly caterer selling cheap imitations of popular brands and sub-standard foods at exorbitant prices. It is time that the state governments and civic authorities across the country wake up and take effective measures to prevent such out right "thuggery" in front of their eyes allowing the perpetrators  to go Scot-free. Such negligence can only make the lives of the citizens more and more miserable, especially when they step out of their home.

Recent announcement by the civic authorities in Chennai that they would provide relief to thousands of visitors to the city through a program of setting up low cost food out lets that would serve good foods at reasonable price is indeed welcome. According to the Municipal Authorities there, the concept of 'Kai yendhi bhavan' or roadside eateries would be translated into reality by setting up around 1,000 eateries across the city which would hopefully provide quality, hygienic food to the city's floating population of 10 lakh every day. The targeted beneficiaries include daily wage laborers, auto rickshaw drivers, unorganized workers, and school and college children who can expect to get breakfast and lunch items every day. To start with the Corporation expects to set up 200 such eateries on a trial basis immediately. Those already running roadside eateries can be expected to get preference though they would be wage earners without proprietorship of the out lets.  If the proposal materializes many self-help group members with reputation can be expected to be roped in to prepare food and transport it to the eateries. According to the proposal mooted, the food is to be prepared at the four existing community kitchens of the Corporation from where it is supplied to relief centers during the monsoons. The commodities would be procured from the government owned Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation at right prices. Of course there could be a slip between the "cup and the lips", if the state government does not accord permission to the Corporation's initiative. 

A natural question that arises in this context is whether any government agency is really equipped with the wherewithal of running a business successfully and if the past experience is any indication the success of the new program may be somewhat tenuous. But skepticism is not justified when people fired with enthusiasm, even in the government, are driven by such noble intentions and the program must be given a decent trial before expanding the same further. If the bureaucratic mind set and usual red tapism associated with government endeavors yield to dynamism, hard work, dedication and mission mentality, there is no way this experiment can fail. If successful, such efforts must be replicated in all states with continuous improvements being incorporated into the Chennai model based on the experience gained.  

Update 19/6/2012
Here is a comment from Chennai on the above publication:

Dear Sir:

I recently came across your blog and in it the article about the 1000 cheap eateries that the Chennai Corporation has planned to set up.

In this context I wanted to introduce to you our own project in Chennai that has successfully set up a back end facility for producing 30000 meals and at the front end, over 50 road side eateries that sell our food. There is no onsite cooking. The women who operate these kiosks earn between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per day, depending on their business volume. We are non profit aiming to empower women and at the same time offer some food security to the community through affordable, hygienic food.

Please find more information about our work at www.ecokitchen.org. If you happen to be in Chennai we would be glad to show you our project.

Sincerely, Ganesh



V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com