Food Water and now Medicine: Amma sells it all

Chennai:  After Amma Canteens, Amma Mineral Water and Amma Salt, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa is set to launch Amma Pharmacies on Thursday.

A hundred outlets of Amma Pharmacies will be opened across the state; 20 of these will be in Chennai. They will be selling medicines at affordable prices with just 4% profit against the usual 14% margin.  

The state government has allocated an amount of Rs 20 crore to the state cooperative society to finance these medicine stores, spending Rs 20 lakh for every air-conditioned outlet. 
 

Jayalalithaa, 66, is reverentially called ‘Amma’ by her followers in the state. Keen to market her image as a pro-poor leader, the chief minister has launched the Amma brand, selling commodities on a largely ‘no-profit-no-loss’ basis.

 
Amma Canteens were first off the mark, selling food items at subsidised rates. This was followed by Amma packaged water. Last month, she unveiled three varieties of low-cost salt: double fortified, low sodium and refined free flow iodised.