Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inaugurated five Amma canteens in the district through video conferencing on Sunday.
In the city, the new canteen was inaugurated on Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital campus. The canteen, spread over in an area of 2,788 sq.ft., was constructed six months ago at an outlay of Rs. 51 lakh.
The canteen could accommodate about 100 people at a time.Mayor S. Soundappan, who was present at the canteen, distributed sweet pongal and laddus to the people gathered at the venue. V. Panneerselvam, MP, M. K. Selvaraj, MLA, N. Mohan, Dean, Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital, K. R. Selvaraj, Corporation Commissioner, were present.
Since it is a referral hospital for five western districts, about 10,000 people visit the hospital daily. A cross-section of the people said that the canteen will immensely benefit the patients and their relatives visiting the hospital every day. Already two Amma canteens are functioning in the city. Similar canteens were opened at Edappadi, Mettur, Attur and Narasingapuram in the district.
While the canteen at Edappadi and Mettur have come up on an area of 1,600 sq.ft., the canteen at Attur was constructed on 2,400 sq.ft. and the one at Narasingapuram on 2,000 sq.ft. All these buildings were constructed at an outlay of Rs. 35 lakh each.
Erode Special Correspondent adds:
The Amma canteen constructed on the premises of Government Headquarters Hospital was also made functional by Ms. Jayalalithaa.The canteen was kept locked for seven months. It was long-awaited by several hundreds of caretakers of inpatients in the hospital with an inpatient capacity exceeding 600.
Relatives and well-wishers staying with the patients had to depend on food sold through eateries set in unhygienic conditions outside the hospital The visitors to the new canteen were supplied with free food. District Collector S. Prabakar, Mayor Malliga Paramasivam, and MLAs K.V. Ramalingam and R.N. Kittusamy joined other dignitaries in serving food to the customers. The Chief Minister also commissioned another canteen in Gobi Muncipality, which is also located on the premises of Government Hospital.
