CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said it could provide land for setting up Centre’s proposed community kitchens, while the capital and recurring expenditure should be borne by the Union government.
Speaking at a meeting convened by Union minister Piyush Goyal with the food ministers of the state governments to discuss “model community kitchens to address hunger and malnutrition in the country,” state food minister R Sakkarapani said the community kitchens should be open to all people.
“Our experience has been that only the most deserving people are coming to these facilities. Hence, making it restrictive based on some exclusion criteria may not be required,” the minister said. While the community kitchens become significantly important in times of natural disasters, the minister said the scheme should be flexible in terms of ramping up their numbers and supplies.
In Tamil Nadu, the state government provides three meals in Amma canteens in Chennai, and two meals in other places. Sakkarapani said that a minimum of two meals should be provided through community kitchens. For a vast country like India, any uniform system or a single model may not be desirable.
“It will be appropriate that states must be given the freedom and flexibility within the broad framework and guidelines to decide on the actual model and functioning of the community kitchens,” Sakkarapani said.
The Tamil Nadu government has been running around 650 community kitchens, also known as Amma canteens, throughout the state, providing subsidized food to the poor and needy. Of these, 403 are run in Chennai, 105 in 14 municipal corporations, 138 in municipalities and four in village panchayats. These include canteens run in government hospitals for the attendants of patients and out-patients. Food is served free during natural calamities.
Sakkarapani said the state government and local bodies had been spending Rs 300 crore towards the implementation of this scheme annually. The DMK government also proposed to open 500 more community kitchens to be known as “Kalaignar Unavagam.”
Speaking at a meeting convened by Union minister Piyush Goyal with the food ministers of the state governments to discuss “model community kitchens to address hunger and malnutrition in the country,” state food minister R Sakkarapani said the community kitchens should be open to all people.
“Our experience has been that only the most deserving people are coming to these facilities. Hence, making it restrictive based on some exclusion criteria may not be required,” the minister said. While the community kitchens become significantly important in times of natural disasters, the minister said the scheme should be flexible in terms of ramping up their numbers and supplies.
In Tamil Nadu, the state government provides three meals in Amma canteens in Chennai, and two meals in other places. Sakkarapani said that a minimum of two meals should be provided through community kitchens. For a vast country like India, any uniform system or a single model may not be desirable.
“It will be appropriate that states must be given the freedom and flexibility within the broad framework and guidelines to decide on the actual model and functioning of the community kitchens,” Sakkarapani said.
The Tamil Nadu government has been running around 650 community kitchens, also known as Amma canteens, throughout the state, providing subsidized food to the poor and needy. Of these, 403 are run in Chennai, 105 in 14 municipal corporations, 138 in municipalities and four in village panchayats. These include canteens run in government hospitals for the attendants of patients and out-patients. Food is served free during natural calamities.
Sakkarapani said the state government and local bodies had been spending Rs 300 crore towards the implementation of this scheme annually. The DMK government also proposed to open 500 more community kitchens to be known as “Kalaignar Unavagam.”
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