Medical College Hospital (MCH) authorities suspended one employee on charge of selling patients’ diets to outsiders at Rs 20 for each buyer. The authorities have also formed a five-member inquiry committee headed by Dr (professor) Asim Ghosh, director of the Regional Institute of Opthalmology (RIO), to probe the charge of selling patients’ meals. The racket was busted after relatives of some patients admitted to the RIO that complaints were lodged with the MCH authorities and director Dr Ghosh for necessary action against the illegal practices.
The relatives have also submitted a video footage of the operations of selling meals to the patients’ parties and outsiders inside the RIO’s premises to the authorities. After verifying the footage as well complaints, authorities found the allegations were true. The MCH authorities decided to suspend one of the employees who serve meals to the patients at RIO and hospital respectively. According to the complaints lodged with the authorities, relatives alleged that their patients did not have adequate quantity of meals because more than 50 percent of breakfasts, lunch and dinner were sold by the employees involved in the racket.
“It was a regular practice inside the hospital premises and many of us and even outsiders used to get meals like rice, roti, bread with chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables etc on different days at the cost of Rs 20 per head only,” one relative alleged. “We have received complaints along with a video footage and a probe committee has been formed to look into it. One employee has been suspended so far at the initial stage,” a senior administrative officer of the MCH said requesting anonymity.