PGIMER gets 300-beded serai with state-of-the-art facilities

While the other patient shelters on the institute premises charge ₹20 per bed for a day, private room in the new serai will cost ₹500 and dormitory ₹100 per person.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 300-beded serai at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and an administrative block at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, here on Tuesday.

Union minister Rajnath Singh, UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, MP Kirron Kher, PGI director Jagat Ram and author Sudha Murthy at the inauguration of the sarai at PGI on Tuesday. (Karun Sharma/HT)

The PGIMER serai, constructed at a cost of ₹22 crore by Infosys Foundation and the UT Red Cross Society, has 36 dormitories and 13 private rooms, and will cater to the needs of patients and attendants visiting the PGIMER.

The serai building is equipped with lifts, ramps, air-conditioners, common area, including a 75-seater cafeteria, 24x7 hot water supply, power backup and a separate wing for women.

But staying here will be a costly affair. While a private room will cost ₹500 per persons per day, one will have to pay ₹100 for staying in dormitory for a day. The authorities are yet to install CCTV cameras and the serai is yet to be furnished.

Defending the charges at the serai, deputy commissioner DC Ajit Balaji Joshi said: “The maintenance of the serai, which is fully air-conditioned, will be a costly affair. It will cost the Red Cross Society over ₹10 lakh per month. The charges are reasonable and cheapest.”

As these four serais were not able to cater to the rush and people could be seen spending nights on pavements on the PGIMER premises even in extreme weather conditions, a proposal to construct another serai was mooted.

Union home minister laid the foundation of the new serai in September 2016.