Ghaziabad: In its changed role in times of Coronavirus outbreak, the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) is working to provide food to patients daily in quarantine centres. However, the agency is struggling to find funds as they are only getting Rs 60 per packet from the administration as against the Rs 250 each packet costs, as they need to maintain calorie requirement of the patients.
The authority said that every day, it is supplying at least 500 food packets to patients in quarantine wards and spending about Rs 1.25 lakh for arranging the food through a hired caterer. They added that initially, they started with a kitchen but the idea was shunned and a caterer was hired instead.
“We are supplying 500 food packets and it is costing us about Rs 1.25 lakh per day which is very high, as we only get Rs 60 per patient for food. We have written to the district administration to at least hike the rate or make it at least double so that the food provision services are not hampered,” said SK Rai, secretary of GDA.
The authority provides four meals which include breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner.
“The menu includes four-six chapatis, or puris in case chapati is not available. Then we have rice or pulao along with pulses and vegetables. If pulses are not available then two vegetables are provided. Apart from this, there is provision of milk and biscuits for minors. To continue with the food supply activity, we are now pooling our own resources so that supply is not hampered. Otherwise it is becoming difficult to provide such food while maintaining the calorie requirement,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“The menu includes four-six chapatis, or puris in case chapati is not available. Then we have rice or pulao along with pulses and vegetables. If pulses are not available then two vegetables are provided. Apart from this, there is provision of milk and biscuits for minors. To continue with the food supply activity, we are now pooling our own resources so that supply is not hampered. Otherwise it is becoming difficult to provide such food while maintaining the calorie requirement,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}A team of GDA officials have stationed themselves at the Pandav Nagar premises of the caterer where they are supervising the food preparation and also ensuring timely supplies to the quarantine centres in Ghaziabad.
Chief medical officer Dr NK Gupta said a patient requires food which should provide him/her with at least 2,400 calories per day.
“Since these patients are not ill, they need to be provided 2,400 calories per day as per norms. Although there has been no measure of the amount of calories each food packet provides, we assume that the present food supplied would be meeting such a requirement. However, we do not know if calorie measure is ascertained by any officials or not,” he added.
District magistrate Ajay Shankar Padney did not take calls for comments and chief development officer Asmita Lal remained unreachable.
In government hospitals like MMG District Hospital, no outside food is allowed but patients in isolation wards are provided food from the hospital mess. Patients who have spent time in the isolation ward of MMG Hospital said that the food provided is less in quantity of late, and also lacks variety.
“We used to get lunch and dinner which included pulses, vegetables and chapati. In breakfast we used to get tea with two bread slices and evening tea was supplemented with biscuits. The food packets which we got at the quarantine centre were better in terms of quantity and also had variety,” said a 22-year-old patient who is presently in home isolation.
Dr Ravinder Rana, chief medical superintendent of MMG Hospital, said they do not allow outside food for their patients, unlike the one provided by GDA in quarantine centres.
“In our isolation ward, the food is provided from the hospital mess. We try to maintain 2,400 calories per day and no outside food in terms of packets, etc., provided by GDA are allowed,” he added.