Trupti canteens will help women financially, says MAUD Principal Secretary

The State government is trying to improve the economic conditions of poor women and lead them on a path of self-reliance, said Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Principal Secretary S. Suresh Kumar on Saturday (July 26).

Inaugurating the city’s first Trupti canteen at Panja Centre in Vijayawada on Saturday, Mr. Suresh Kumar said the government has come up with the idea of Trupti canteens to encourage women part of the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas(DWCRA) to become entrepreneurs.

Mr. Suresh Kumar said the government plans to set up 750 canteens, under the auspices of Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA), across the State. The first in the State, which came up in Nellore, is running successfully, he said, adding that women are getting an income of ₹10,000-15,000 a day.

He said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has given them a target of training 30,000 women as entrepreneurs, and it is as part of the target that they have asked women to manage the canteens.

Mr. Suresh Kumar said the main purpose of these canteens is to provide food at low prices and also to provide employment to women. There are 28 lakh DWCRA women’s groups in the State, and such initiatives will help them financially, the officer said. Every canteen will be managed by four women, and they would be provided training.

Such canteens will be set up at important junctions and places along highways, Mr. Suresh Kumar said.

MEPMA project director N. Tej Bharat said the canteens were launched in line with the Chief Minister’s action plan to have one entrepreneur in every family. He added that they are working towards training 30,000 women as entrepreneurs.

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner Dhyanachandra H.M. said there are 11 Anna canteens at present. In addition to the Trupti canteen at Panja Centre, two more canteens are coming up, he added.