Former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's welfare project called Amma Canteens served food free of cost to the public and made sure that no one who came returned hungry despite Cyclone Vardah having wreaked havoc in the state on Monday.
Former AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5 following a cardiac arrest at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai. She had been in the hospital for almost three months. When the city was shut down on December 6 in mourning for their beloved Amma, it was only Amma Canteens that continued to remain open and serve free food to the public, especially homeless citizens.
Centralised canteens distribute food to most of the 407 canteens in the city because of which the food supply remained unaffected. Women who run the canteens that do not come under the centralised canteens also ensured that no one returned hungry, the Times of India reported.
The cooks of one of the canteens reached by 5 am despite the street leading to the canteen being covered with uprooted trees and branches. After the cyclone made landfall and wreaked havoc in the city, the women who run the canteen invited the public to eat food.
Greater Chennai Corporation City Health Officer Dr NA Senthilnathan said that the local body would ensure that the supply of food to the Amma canteens is not interrupted so that the weaker sections do not go hungry at this difficult time.
