Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 10: After a long gap of about one year the free morning diet to the patients was finally started today in Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu and its associated hospitals except Chest Diseases Hospital, Jammu, where this service will be extended from tomorrow morning.
According to the official sources, the free breakfast was provided to the eligible indoor patients in GMCH Jammu, Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh Hospital and Super Specialty Hospital as usual from this morning by the contractors after a large sum of their pending liabilities was cleared by the department and assurance was given to clear the rest amount.
Ever since the Government Medical College came into existence, it has been the practice to provide breakfast to the patients to the extent of a loaf or two of bread and a glass of milk, as it was felt by the authorities that attendants and caretakers of some hospitalized patients had to come from a long distance and may not be able to bring the meal for their patients every day.
But, on June 1, 2015, Mahamaya Sales Corporation, a private firm that used to make supplies to GMCH and associated hospitals stopped the supply of breakfast to the patients after the Purchasing Committee, GMCH Jammu and associated hospitals, failed to clear their pending bills on account of diet totaling about Rs 1.83 crore.
When contacted, proprietors of the Mahamaya Sales Corporation, Jammu, Rakesh Choudhary and Atul Gupta, told Excelsior that they have started supply of morning meal to the patients in GMCH Jammu, SMGS Hospital and Super Specialty Hospital from this morning and from tomorrow this service will also be extended in other hospitals.
They said that the decision to start the service was taken after the initiative of Minister for Health and Medical Education, Bali Bhagat, who personally intervened into the matter and cleared most of their pending bills and assured to clear the pending bills in a time bound manner.
When contacted, Principal, GMCH, Dr Zahid Geelani, also confirmed that the contractors have started the supply of morning meal from today, after their pending bills amounting to about Rs 1 crore were got cleared and assurance, to clear other pending bills in a fixed time period, were given by the Minister himself.
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