Mumbai: Around 450 medical students at Nair Medical College and Hospital are facing difficulties with meals after the closure of their hostel canteen, which had been providing subsidised food from breakfast to dinner. The canteen has been non-functional for the past two months, leaving students inconvenienced.
Although the hospital administration has arranged for meals through another canteen on the premises, students have raised serious concerns about the quality of food being served.
The canteen at the Haji Ali Boys Hostel, which had remained shut during the COVID-19 pandemic, was reopened in August 2023 following protests by students. It offered breakfast, lunch, evening snacks, and dinner at subsidised rates, with students managing all meals for around ₹200 per day.
However, students allege that the canteen was shut again without any prior notice, despite their efforts to get it reopened. They claim the food provided by the alternate canteen is of poor quality and could affect their health. Many cannot afford food from outside vendors, and some have resorted to tiffin services. But frequent delivery delays often result in stale food with a foul smell.
According to the hospital administration, the contractor who was running the hostel canteen lacked the necessary licence and had also defaulted on rent payments, violating the terms of the agreement. Several irregularities were also found in the canteen’s operations, leading to the termination of services. A fresh tendering process is now underway to appoint a new caterer.
Meanwhile, the hospital’s main canteen has been instructed to provide meals to the hostel students during all four meal times to ensure they are not left without food.
