Chennai:
Tamil Nadu's brand "Amma", dedicated to its Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, today expanded its repertory with Amma medicine stores - after Amma Canteens, Amma Mineral Water and Amma Salt.
10 outlets of "Amma Pharmacies" opened today in Chennai. The plan is to have 200 shops that will sell medicines 10 per cent cheaper, at just four per cent profit - compared to the usual 14 per cent.
Ms Jayalalithaa, 66, is reverentially called 'Amma' by her followers in the state. While trying to market her image as a pro-poor leader, the chief minister last year launched the Amma brand, with a 'no-profit-no-loss' theme.
"Chief Minister Amma wants to provide all kinds of medicines, from routine to life saving drugs at affordable costs to the common man," Minister of Cooperation Mr Sellur Raju told NDTV.
The state government has allocated Rs 20 crore to the state cooperative society to finance the Amma medicine stores, which means a spending of Rs 20 lakh on every air-conditioned outlet.
Amma Canteens were first off the mark, selling food items at subsidized 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 iodized.
The Amma Canteens, seen as a big vote catcher, run at a cost to the Chennai Corporation, which loses five lakh each day on the business.
Ms Jayalalithaa's AIADMK swept the national election in Tamil Nadu, bagging 37 of the 39 constituencies. The Opposition DMK, which is led by former chief minister M Karunanidhi, drew a blank.
The Amma pharmacies show Jayalalithaa's resolve to stay on top as the state faces assembly polls in 2016. The AIADMK had dislodged the Karunanidhi government in 2011 by wresting 150 seats in an assembly with a total strength of 234. The DMK was reduced to just 23 seats.