After launching a series of products and services under the brand name Amma, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa declared on the floor of the Assembly on Monday that the State would soon have Amma brand mobile phones.
The Amma smartphones will be produced by using facilities of the Nokia assembly unit in the suburbs of Chennai, which was shut down by the parent company earlier this year.
The Amma smartphone scheme announced by Jayalalithaa on Monday is for women self-help group (SHGs) trainers in the State to help them supervise the work being done by the SHGs. People in Tamil Nadu affectionately address Jayalalithaa as Amma (mother).
“Smartphones incorporated with a special Tamil software will be made available to 20,000 SHG trainers in the first phase. This will cost the exchequer Rs15 crore,” Jayalalithaa told the Assembly.
The announcement was greeted with thumping of desks by her party MlAs and Ministers.
The SHGs in Tamil Nadu were launched by Jayalalithaa during her first tenure as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996, for the social and economic empowerment of women and to eradicate poverty. These groups are doing excellent work and have received all round praise.
“Today there are 6.08 lakh SHGs for women with 92 lakh active workers,” said the Chief Minister. The SHG trainers supervise the SHGs and they are experienced workers who support setting up and training of new groups,” Jayalalithaa added.
Jayalalithaa said the Amma mobile service would ease the workload of the SHG supervisors who have to maintain several registers including those related to meetings, payment of subscriptions, savings, in-group loan and repayments.
According to Karumuttu T Kannan, Managing Director, Thiagarajar Mills ltd, Madurai, Brand Amma, launched by the Jayalalithaa Government is the fastest-expanding brand name in Tamil Nadu today. “It is a brand name with exclusive social commitment. There are Amma Canteens selling idlis at Re1 and meals for Rs 5. The Amma Pharmacies are a major relief to people in the lower strata of society as they make available costly medicines at subsidised rates,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu Government is selling Amma mineral water at Rs 10, Amma Cement, Amma salt and Amma vegetables and fruits at highly subsidised rates. The Chennai Corporation is getting ready to open the first-ever Amma cinemas in the metro where movie lovers can watch the best movies at Rs 25 in air-conditioned theatres. The State Government has built 3,00,000 Amma Homes under the Chief Minister’s Green Energy Houses for those in the BPl category.