Brand Amma becomes stronger -Governance Now

Brand Amma becomes stronger

After building Brand Amma in the previous term, the Jayalalithaa government is all set to ramp it up

Shivani Chaturvedi | June 23, 2016 | Chennai

#populist schemes #Tamil Nadu #Jayalalithaa #Brand Amma #Amma weekly market

Chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s populist programmes like the low-cost eateries Amma Unavagam or Amma canteens seem to have worked in her favour by ensuring that she comes back to power for the second consecutive term. The populist measures will now continue, with the latest being the Amma weekly market or Amma Varasandhai.

Addressing the assembly this month, governor K Rosaiah said that the Tamil Nadu government will continue to offer affordable essentials and services to the people under the ‘Amma’ brand.

The idea of coming up with this weekly market is to create a platform where the buyers can get best quality products at lowest price directly from the manufactures, KS Kandasamy, deputy commissioner (works), Chennai Corporation told Governance Now.

This arrangement will eliminate middlemen, and the producers like farmers and small scale industrialist will get direct benefit. At Amma weekly market, perishable and non-perishable products will be available. These markets will also help promote indigenous and local products, said Kandasamy.

The Chennai Corporation, which is a significant contributor to the making of Brand Amma, is devising ways to generate revenue from advertisement of this scheme so as to make the scheme self sufficient. The corporation is also planning to charge fee for parking, said Kandasamy. In a month’s time, the weekly market would come up in one location. Later, it might expand to more locations, he said.

At present the civic body is running Amma canteens from its own funds. There are a total of 300 Amma canteens running within Chennai corporation limits and the target is to increase it to 400, said an official at Chennai Corporation. The rest of the state is running 240 canteens. “Since it is a welfare scheme, we have sent proposal to the government and are expecting some funds,” he said.

However, a few officials claimed that the welfare schemes are not adding burden on the state exchequer.

Amma canteens launched in 2014 is a big hit among the people. One can get a single idli at Re 1, sambhar rice at Rs 5 and curd rice at Rs 3. Two chapatis cost Rs 3.

Among the other various schemes under brand Amma are Amma pharmacy, Amma drinking water, Amma salt, Amma cement, Amma mobile phone, Amma theatre, Amma farm fresh outlets, and Amma Kudineer.

The main opposition party DMK, which is considered to have led the way to freebie culture in the state, said that money spent on most of the welfare schemes was a waste of expenditure and also gave room for corruption. DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said that except Amma canteens, other services under this brand are a failure.

Comments

Other News

Elections 2024: 1,351 candidates in fray for Phase 3

As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states /UTs are contesting elections in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The number includes eight contesting candidates for the adjourned poll in 29-Betul (ST) PC of Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, one candidate from Surat PC in Gujarat has been elected unopp

2023-24 net direct tax collections exceed budget estimates by 7.40%

The provisional figures of direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24 show that net collections are at Rs. 19.58 lakh crore, 17.70% more than Rs. 16.64 lakh crore in 2022-23. The Budget Estimates (BE) for Direct Tax revenue in the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 were fixed at Rs. 18.

‘World’s biggest festival of democracy’ begins

The much-awaited General Elections of 2024, billed as the world’s biggest festival of democracy, began on Friday with Phase 1 of polling in 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (the highest among all seven phases) in 21 States/ UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in the State Assembly Elections in Arunach

A sustainability warrior’s heartfelt stories of life’s fleeting moments

Fit In, Stand Out, Walk: Stories from a Pushed Away Hill By Shailini Sheth Amin Notion Press, Rs 399

What EU’s AI Act means for the world

The recent European Union (EU) policy on artificial intelligence (AI) will be a game-changer and likely to become the de-facto standard not only for the conduct of businesses but also for the way consumers think about AI tools. Governments across the globe have been grappling with the rapid rise of AI tool

Indian Railways celebrates 171 years of its pioneering journey

The Indian Railways is celebrating 171 glorious years of its existence. Going back in time, the first train in India (and Asia) ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853. It was flagged off from Boribunder (where CSMT stands today). As the years passed, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway which ran the