It was in this city that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa asked at her election campaign not long ago, “Who is a better administrator? Is it Gujarat’s Modi or this Tamil Nadu lady?”
While this question may be relevant now because of the changes that have since taken place, it is striking that on Thursday, a team of officials from Gujarat who visited the Amma Unavagam said their State was looking to implement that model.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken of choosing the best practices across the country with a view to replicating them. Clearly the State’s model providing subsidised, nutritious and hygienic food is worthy of replication. The Gujarat delegation visited the Amma Unavagam at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on Thursday. Amma Unavagam uses the services of women self-help groups in the State.
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“It is an excellent project. We visited the canteens. It is really beautiful, the food, infrastructure and the system,” said S.A. Pandav, Joint Director and Joint State Apprenticeship Advisor, Commissionerate of Employment and Training, Government of Gujarat.
“We are going to implement it in Gujarat. We need to study more on infrastructure and the modalities. More than 10 lakh candidates who have complete industrial training are ready to work in such a system,” said Mr. Pandav.
Educational institutions in Gujarat are also likely to have such Unavagams. Visiting Gujarat officials will firm up the details on Friday.
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The menu for the model to be adopted in Gujarat will be finalised shortly. Senior officials from Gujarat will visit Amma ‘Unavagam’ on Friday.