Even as the Coimbatore Corporation races towards the May 30 deadline to start 10 budget restaurants in the city — Amma Unavagam — the groups it selected to take care of the cooking have returned from Chennai.
The Corporation had chosen 15 women self help groups to undergo training in Chennai, where Amma Unavagam has been functioning for quite some time.
Training
According to sources, the groups went to Chennai for two-day training and returned on Monday morning.
The civic body had sent the groups to the State capital in order to learn how the Unavagam functioned in Chennai, how the food was prepared and served to customers every day and how the premises was kept clean.
The sources said that though the Corporation had initially planned to have five Amma Unavagam it subsequently increased it to ten.
Locations
A resolution that was passed at the May 21 Urgent Meeting of the Corporation Council said that the civic body would establish the restaurants at the Singanallur Bus Stand, at the Corporation complex in Flower Market, Maniakarampalayam, Corporation office complex in Kurichi, Corporation complex on 80 Feet Road, Ramanathapuram, Thirumal Street wedding hall, at the new bus stand on Mettupalayam Road, at the school complex in Masakalipalayam, in Amman Nagar, Saravanampatty, and in Kuniamuthur.
In the resolution that was passed, the Corporation also said that it would incur a loss of Rs. 2.64 for an idli , Rs. 9.73 for a unit of sambar rice and Rs. 4.44 for a unit of curd rice.
Each of the 10 Amma Unavagam would incur a loss of Rs. 7,419 a day and all the ten centres would erode the Corporation coffers of Rs. 2.70 crore a year.
As per a Government Order, the Corporation would sell an idli for Re. 1, a unit of sambar rice for Rs. 5 and curd rice for Rs. 3.
The sources said that now that the groups had returned from the training, they would be graded and the best 10 of the 15 would be allotted the centres. The remaining five would be in reserve mode.
As and when there was want of help or human resource, the five groups would chip in.
Kitchens
The sources also said that though the Corporation was trying to commission kitchens in all the centres, it might not be possible to get them ready on day one.
Until kitchens were complete, the Corporation would transport food from nearby centres to those where kitchens were in the process of completion.
