Tamil Nadu man sells idlis for one rupee each amid lockdown

Deepak Karthik | TNN | Updated: May 3, 2020, 18:05 IST

M Palanisamy says he sells 650-675 idlis per day.

TRICHY: A 48-year-old man in Venkatachalapuram village near Pullambadi in Trichy district has launched a low-cost eatery that sells idlis for one rupee each to the villagers. He cited one Kamalathal, an octogenarian woman selling idlis for one rupee each in Coimbatore district as the inspiration for opening the eatery during the lockdown.
M Palanisamy, president of Venkatachalapuram panchayat near Pullambadi says has launched the low-cost eatery at the Kamarajar mandram in his panchayat to serve predominantly the senior citizens and farmhands. He sells 650-675 idlis per day. The idlis priced at Re 1 each comes with sambhar and chutney. There are no other hotels in the village that have 2,000 houses.
Palanisamy added that he also conceptualised the idea to open the eatery by drawing inspiration from Amma unavagam. “Kamarajar was the reason for the Pullambadi canal, a distributary of Cauvery irrigating our village. Agriculture is possible only because of the canal,” Palanisamy told TOI the reason for naming the eatery after former chief minister K Kamaraj. Palanisamy has planned to run the eatery even after the lockdown was lifted.