Your thallu vandi dosai now a click away

Your thallu vandi dosai now a click away

Harshitha.Kumayaa@timesgroup.com

Chennai:18.11.2020

Craving for some street food following months of lockdown? Things may be looking up for you as your favourite thallu vandis or push cart shops will soon be just a click away, thanks to a new initiative by the Greater Chennai Corporation. Introduced as part of Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atma Nibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, the corporation, in association with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), National Urban Livelihood Mission, and Swiggy, will train 500 street vendors on food safety and hygiene, following which they will be issued certification by FSSAI.

The vendors would then be a part of the onboarding process with Swiggy, where they would be trained on the technical aspects of the job. On a pilot basis, 50 of the trained vendors would get on board by November 25.

“This is part of our Covid-19 relief work with street vendors. Introducing them to the online platform would enable them to take their business to the next level,” said Meghanath Reddy, corporation deputy commissioner (revenue and finance), who held a meeting with the stakeholders and select vendors on November 12 to discuss the project.

The vendors will be equipped with the required safety gear, and branded with a store name to sell their food on Swiggy. “Several vendors have shown interest as they are becoming aware of the changing patterns of the food industry,” said Reddy.

The Food Safety training and certification (FoSTAC) programme has been taking place online for more than a week. “We have trained more than 350 food vendors. Their details would be provided to the Corporation to carry the process forward,” says Dr A. Ramakrishnan, designated officer, TN food safety department, Chennai district.

According to corporation data, there are over 24,000 registered street vendors in the city. Last month, 300 of them were provided FSSAI certification and more than 2,600 have received certification. Most of the vendors are from Marina, Besant Nagar, T Nagar, and Egmore.

For Malathy and Murthy, who have been selling idli, dosa and poori on their push-cart in T Nagar for 25 years, this project is a welcome sign after the lockdown lull. “I am looking forward to enhancing the quality of food,” says Malathy.

Selvakumar M, a vendor from T Nagar who has been trained and certified by the programme, says he could expect fresh customers now. “Looking at us wear masks, gloves, and head caps, we might get more in-person customers, besides the online ones we would get through Swiggy.”

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