Excelsior Correspondent:
JAMMU, July 4: Patients at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu and associated hospitals, which are without breakfast for over one month, may be even deprived of the same forever like hospitals in Srinagar.
According to the official sources, there seems no relief for the patients at GMCH Jammu and associated hospitals which are deprived of the free morning meal provided by the Government, since June 1 this year, as there is no inkling of sanctioning of funds soon by the Government to the Purchasing Committee, which is responsible for clearing the pending bills of Mahamaya Sales Corporation, a private firm that supplies meals to GMCH and associated hospitals.
Pertinent to mention here that the Firm stopped the supply of breakfast to the patients at GMCH and associated hospitals after the Purchasing Committee, GMCH Jammu and associated hospitals, failed to clear their pending bills on account of diets totaling about Rs 1.83 crore.
The sources said that there is no hope of receiving of fresh funds by the Purchasing Committee, from the Government in even during the ongoing month of July and for the want of funds it would not be in a position to clear the pending bills of the Firm, which has plainly stated that till their pending bills are cleared they will not resume supply of morning diet to the patients at GMCH and associated hospitals.
In the wake of this situation, the sources said that the Purchasing Committee has been mooting to permanently stop providing breakfast to the patients admitted in these Jammu hospitals like the hospitals in Srinagar, from 2016, when the new tenders will be invited by the Purchase Committee for supply of diets.
Principal and Dean, GMCH Jammu, Prof Dr Ghansham Dev Gupta, who is also the chairman of the Purchasing Committee, when contacted, said that presently there is no such proposal to stop providing morning meal to the patients. However, he did not rule out that the Purchasing Committee may take such decision when the fresh tender is invited next year. He further added that as soon as the funds are sanctioned by the Government and the due bills of the Firm are paid, the supply of morning diet will be started by the Firm. “It is not possible for us to say when the funds will be released by the Government”, he added.
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