Hospitals change menu, shift to firewood

Madurai: Amid shortage of commercial LPG, the menu has changed for hostel inmates and food served to patients at Govt Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. Food will be cooked with firewood to conserve LPG, said dean Dr L Arul Sundaresh Kumar.He told TOI that hostels in Madurai Medical College accommodate students, PGs, and nursing students. The management decided to stop live cooking and serving of food items such as idli, dosa and chapati in the hostel as it consumes a lot of LPG. Similarly, for patients at Rajaji hospital, a variety of rice dishes such as sambar rice and curd rice, will be provided. Bread, milk, and boiled eggs, too, will be served. Instead of chappati, wheat upma will be served. "Due to space constraint, for now we will be using an unused spot near the nurses' hostel inside the premises of GRH for cooking with firewood, but for the hostel there is adequate space within the college," he added. He stated that for GRH, around four to five LPG cylinders were needed a day for cooking food for patients.Apart from GRH and medical college, food served at Govt Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, and Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) at Balarengapuram will also be cooked using firewood. "As far as RCC is concerned, patients will be served semi-solid foods such as rice porridge," said the dean. He said the district collector has promised to ensure adequate availability of LPG for future use.