Amma Canteen

Egypt comes calling at Amma Canteen

“This scheme is unbelievable. This is even beyond what the Western countries do,” said Mohamed Adel Rezk, who had come all the way from Egypt on an official visit to the Amma Canteen at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital an Accreditation Director with the delegation

People belonging to the economically-weaker sections in Egypt may soon reap the benefits of a welfare model like the Amma Canteen, if Mr. Rezk and his team carry their inspiration home.

Amma Canteens sell idli for Re. 1 , sambar rice, pongal and curry leaf rice for Rs. 5, and curd rice for Rs. 3. The team on Saturday visited Amma Canteens in the city and studied various aspects pertaining to the facilities. The officials will recommend adoption of the scheme in Egypt shortly.

The U.S. uses food stamps for the welfare of the poor, but this facility is way better, Mr. Rezk added. “The food is very good and hygienic. Every Indian must feel proud of this project,” he added. 

____________________________________________________________

This Amma Canteen; this idea didn't come from Twitter or Facebook.

This idea may reach the Social Network; but didn't originate from Facebook.

In fact, Barack Obama tried to run his government with direct participation of people via Facebook. In cabinet meetings, there was a person to closely monitor the posts in Facebook and convey those ideas to the secretaries.

It didn't work. Common people without any authority and without any responsibility give so many creative ideas; but nothing was practical.

Narendra Modi government spends so much time and energy on Twitter, Facebook and other social media. It's not going to yield any results.

The social network is an effective tool for short term gain. You could effectively promote a very average book or a movie in the social network and make it a bestseller.

People would soon realize the fact that, these presidents or the prime ministers hire somebody to post messages on these social network. 

Barak Obama effectively used the social network for the first term campaigning only. It didn't work good for the second term.

In Narendra Modi case also, all these Twitter, Facebook didn't work that much. The big difference that made for Narendra Modi is, Amit Shah; not Twitter or Facebook.

Amit Shah's micromanagement in Uttar Pradesh, that yielded 73 MP seats.

Again, micromanagement works only for winning an election; but not for leading a nation.

Leadership qualities have not changed because of all these latest technologies. Still integrity of character is considered as the best leadership quality. 

So, don't get carried away with all these hype about Twitter, Facebook and so on.

Understanding the ground realities and taking action to resolve the people issues - that works for a long term.

The hype that was built around Narendra Modi and Gujarat model is going down at a very fast speed. People have already started comparing Narendra Modi with Manmohan Singh. 

The current young generation demand everything in a quick way. So, the youth are not going to wait for another ten years to see any change. They took Anna Hazare to a great height and then let Anna down. 

In fact, Arvind Kejriwal is the best example for the failure of social network.

So, Egypt is now following India in Amma Canteen.

Sri Lankan government has already started with the implementation of Amma Canteen in the Northern Province; soon it would be extended to Colombo.

Team Modi is under tremendous pressure from the young generation. Satisfying their unrealistic expectation is not an easy task. Soon, frustrated youth may start complaining about the Narendra Modi government.