After more than a decade of its opening, an Amma canteen near the old bus terminus in Arakkonam town in Ranipet got a fresh lease of life on Saturday as Minister for Co-operation V. Gandhiraj inaugurated the restored facility.

Civic officials said that former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa virtually inaugurated Amma Canteens in Ranipet, Arcot, Arakkonam and Walajah towns in the district in 2015, when the scheme was launched in the State.

Since then, renovation of the facility was not done. “The municipality has completed restoration work of the canteens for the first time with improved civic amenities for visitors,” G. Anandan, Commissioner, Arakkonam municipality, told The Hindu.

Accompanied by Collector N. Priya Ravichandran, Mr. Gandhiraj inspected the renovated canteen, which was done at a cost of ₹11 lakh in the town.

The canteen in Walajah town that refurbished at a cost of ₹9 lakh will be opened to the public in the coming week.

 
The kitchen was refurbished with new water pipelines and utensils. Electrical lines were also checked thoroughly to prevent any power fluctuations and short circuit. An overhead tank with a storage capacity of 50,000 litres was cleaned.

 
Motor pump sets connected to borewells that supply water to the canteens were refurbished, to ensure uninterrupted water supply. A fresh coat of painting was also given to the facility.

 

Health Minister K.G. Arunraj on Monday inspected a warehouse of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) in Anna Nagar.

He told reporters that the Anna Nagar warehouse was the largest facility in Chennai from where drugs and medical equipment required for all government hospitals functioning in Greater Chennai Corporation limits are supplied. Noting that there was scope to further improve the system, he said the current stock position in warehouses across the city and districts was already available online. The next step, he added, was to have real-time stock positions at the hospital level, including primary health centres, taluk hospitals, and government medical college hospitals.

“With the war situation in the Middle East, a review was held to discuss precautionary measures in case of shortages in drug supplies and to plan how to manage if shortages of essential raw materials used in drug manufacturing arises,” he said.

The Minister said that power supply was crucial for functioning of equipment such as ventilators in hospitals. In the future, uninterrupted power supply in both government and private hospitals will be ensured through inter-department coordination as per the Chief Minister’s directions, he said, adding that they have already spoken to the Electricity Minister and Secretary.

Dr. Arunraj said that issuance of licenses for 8,000 private hospitals, including small-sized clinics, were pending since 2019 under the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments Act. He also pointed to an audit objection raised regarding delay in granting licenses. If these licenses were issued in 2019, an annual licensing fee of 5,000 would have been obtained. The aim is to streamline the processes and ensure transparency, he added

Health Secretary Darez Ahamed said that all necessary measures were being taken up by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in all hospitals, airports, and seaports as per the advisory of the World Health Organisation and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. All Deputy Directors of Health Services are taking measures, and quarantine centres are being readied.