Rat in food: PGI shows contractor the door

Acting on the complaint of a doctor who had alleged that a dead rat was found in the food he had bought from the New OPD cafeteria, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, administration on Tuesday cancelled the contract of the cafeteria owner.

Acting on the complaint of a doctor who had alleged that a dead rat was found in the food he had bought from the New OPD cafeteria, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, administration on Tuesday cancelled the contract of the cafeteria owner.

Illustration by Daljeet Kaur Sandhu/HT

Last month, a doctor had made a complaint with the PGIMER administration that he had ordered a plate of ‘chana bhatura’ from the cafeteria at the New OPD of the institute and when he was about to start eating he stumbled upon a dead rat in the ‘chanas’.

Following the complaint, the PGIMER administration had conducted an inquiry and issued a show-cause notice to the cafeteria owner. According to sources, the contractor had sought a personal hearing before the inquiry committee.

On Tuesday, the committee called an emergency meeting and gave him a personal hearing. Sources said the owner couldn’t give a satisfactory reply, so it was decided to cancel his contract.

It was not for the first time that institute administration received a complaint against the said cafeteria owner. Earlier also, multiple complaints were received against him.