Through allotting Rs 100 crore in the fiscal budget for 2020-21, the Tamil Nadu government hopes to revive its flagship programme 'Amma Unavagam', the low-cost canteens that were inaugurated by late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. On Friday, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Panneerselvam has announced the allocation to the state-run canteens while presenting the budget.

The programme, which commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa's pet project, would be poured with reviving lubricant to ensure that the mechanism of feeding thousands runs smoother. The state government has proposed to introduce the Corporate Social Responsibility contributions to the canteens from this year. 

While presenting the budget, Pannerselvam said the government has decided to form a not-for-profit- Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to finance and to manage the flagship programme of Amma Unavagam with the motive that the programme reaches out the needy people and it gets funds on a sustainable basis. The reports say that by introducing SPV, the government hopes to revamp the canteens with the corporate funding. Currently, the state has 407 Amma Unavagams in operation across the state out of which, 200 canteens are in Chennai.

Panneerselvam stated that the SPV will be raising the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions from companies and other donations and he added that the government will keep providing the subsidized food grains. Adding to that, the government would be installing mobile Amma Unavagams to laborers for their easy access. Finance Minister further stated that these mobile units would be transporting the food to the construction workers in the sites.

Amma Unavagam is one of the notable projects that was launched in 2013 as a social welfare scheme to provide low-budget meals to the people. These canteens have been operated by the city corporations under the Municipal Administration department. It was inaugurated by then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and attained huge popularity across and beyond the state. After her demise in December 2016, these canteens have been facing a number of issues that had led to the shut down of some of the canteens across the state.