A first: PGI to allot 4 canteens, cafeterias to railway corporation

In an unusual move, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), North India’s premier health institute, has decided to allot four of its total nine canteens and cafeterias to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the state-owned Indian Railways.

LUCRATIVE BUSINESS

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The canteens and cafeterias are a lucrative business inside the PGIMER. Considering the heavy footfall and clientele, each food outlet, depending on its location and space, logs annual turnover of lakhs of rupees.

ISSUES AT GLANCE

Food quality, hygiene, overcharging, sale of unapproved items and non-display of approved rate list of items on sale

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ACTION

PGIMER administration conducts inspections and acts against violations of the terms and conditions at these heavily crowded food sale centres from time to time, but most private players continue flouting the rules.

OVER 10K DAILY FOOTFALL

The 2,233-bed PGIMER records over 10,000 daily footfall of patients on an average. With over 105% average bed occupancy rate, the premier health facility caters to Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and even other areas of the country.

PATIENT WELFARE FOREMOST: PGIMER

At PGIMER, patient welfare extends beyond clinical care. With this collaboration, we hope to transform our food services into spaces of dignity, hygiene and compassion. The IRCTC brings credibility, and together, we aim to deliver meals that heal in more ways than one. — PANKAJ RAI, DDA, PGIMER

TELLING NUMBERS

Beds: 2233 (1958 sanctioned, 275 observation)

Occupancy rate: 105.1%

Daily in-patients: 2,063

Annual admissions: 1,05,736

Annual out-patients: 27,45,080

Special clinics out-patients: 10,66,839

Annual emergency: 1,56,256

The canteens are currently run by private contractors. The move to a public sector organisation is aimed at ensuring a certain quality of food and hygiene, besides checking reports of fleecing of customers. The 2,233-bed PGIMER records over 10,000 daily footfall of patients on an average. With over 105% average bed occupancy rate, the premier health facility caters to Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and even other states of the country. With so many patients and their attendants 24X7, the quality of food is high priority.

Confirming the development, PGIMER Deputy Director Administration (DDA) Pankaj Rai told The Tribune that it is for the first time in the 62-year history of the institute that the canteens and cafeterias will be run by a public sector entity under a pilot project.

“We will review the working and difference between the private and public sector undertakings before going ahead with increasing more public sector participation in running the commercial establishments within the PGIMER premises,” he said.

The sites that have been allotted to the IRCTC included doctor’s canteen on fifth floor of Nehru Hospital, and cafeterias at Advanced Trauma Centre, Advanced Cardiac Centre, and Advanced Paediatric Centre at the PGIMER.

“If the services are found satisfactory, the authorities may consider more such sites for allotment to your organisation,” PGIMER administration told the IRCTC. An MoU is expected to be signed soon.

Rai said the initiative is part of a larger revamp plan aimed at ensuring hygiene, quality, and greater accountability in food distribution across the institute.

“Recognising that many patients and their families rely heavily on these services during their visit and stay, the PGIMER has been exploring avenues to enhance the quality and safety of meals served within the campus,” he said, while reasoning that the IRCTC, with its proven track record and focus on clean, standardised, and people-friendly facilities, emerged as a natural partner.