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Ahead of the funeral of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday, Chennai shut down \u2014 shops, restaurants and roadside eateries were closed.<\/p>\n
But as Tamil Nadu mourned her, one of Amma\u2019s pet schemes \u2014 \u2018Amma Unavagams\u2019 (Amma canteens) stayed open \u2014 but not for business as food was served free of cost to all those who walked in.<\/p>\n
Of the 407 Amma Canteens, over 350 were open and instructed to hand out free food. Digital entrepreneur and podcaster Kiruba Shankar<\/strong><\/span>, who visited one of the canteens on Kamarajar Salai, Virugambakkam, spotted around 20 people having their food at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Amma canteen was open and feeding people. It was business as usual when almost every shop and hotel was closed. The right way to pay a tribute,\u201d he exulted.<\/p>\n Mary Antonita, who had her lunch at an Amma canteen in Thiruvanmiyur, said, \u201cI\u2019m a daily wage worker and I walked five kilometres to have food here.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Naresh Kumar, a resident of Madipakkam, complained that the canteen was closed at Velachery. The same was true in Chintadripet and CIT Nagar. A Chennai Corporation source said these outlets had to down shutters as they ran out of provisions (usually these outlets have a stock for 40 days).<\/p>\n Nutrition security<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Professor M.S. Swaminathan pointed out that Ms. Jayalalithaa\u2019s attention was not only on advances in modern technology but also on the nutrition security of the poor.<\/p>\n \u201cFor this purpose, she established a network of Amma Unavagams to provide the needy food at a low cost,\u201d he said in an email statement.<\/p>\n These low-cost canteens attracted global attention with a delegation from Egypt visiting in 2014 to study the model with a view to replicating it.<\/p>\n