MADURAI: Authorities at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) have stopped free food distribution by an NGO to attendants of patients, citing security reasons. Currently, volunteers of the NGO distribute food packets near the GRH entrance.
Speaking to TNIE, Managing Trustee of Star Friends Trust T Gurusamy said, “Our mission is to provide essential support and resources to those in need. We distributed free food to visitors and attendees of the patients at the GRH for 173 days, as they were mostly from other districts. On the 174th day (Thursday), we were asked to stop the distribution.
"The hospital authorities claimed that our distribution was an obstacle and cited security reasons. This is not valid as our distribution lasts for just an hour every morning. We suspect the reason behind this is a private eatery owned by a Tamil actor located inside the premises and raised concern over this. However, we do not blame anyone but are worried that distributing food at the entrance will invite attention from outsiders and passers-by. We will be issuing tokens to attendees, said T Gurusamy.
Speaking to TNIE, GRH (Madurai) Dean (In-Charge) Dr G Selvarani said, “We are not against distributing food packets to patients, attenders or visitors. But it is inviting beggars and destitute from outside the premises. The food distribution vehicle is parked inside the narrow passage blocking the movement of patients, doctors and health workers. Hence, we asked the volunteers to distribute the packets outside the GRH near the entrance.”