Free food will be provided across all the 407 Amma canteens in Chennai city till May 3 when the lockdown will be in effect as per a statement made by the Greater Chennai Corporation. A spokesperson for the civic body informed that donations given have made food to be provided free of cost in all the Amma Unavagam establishments in the city.

The Chennai Corporation has furthermore stated that donations from people and companies under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been made to help provide more food during the ongoing lockdown period brought into effect to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, which has so far left 373 people testing positive in the city alone. Chennai Corporation's spokesperson added that enough donations have been secured to provide free food till May 3 while revealing that the cost of running Amma canteens is Rs. 17 lakh per day. Amma canteens will be providing customers with idlis, variety rice, pongal with sambar and chapati with dal.

The Amma Unavagam was started by former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa as a food subsidization programme and was a first-of-its-kind scheme initiated by any government in India. Soon after, states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha to name a few ran similar schemes, which as well tasted similar success.

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