CUTTACK: Bizarre and shocking! In what could be of serious consequences for the hundreds of patients admitted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Odisha’s premier healthcare institution, food items licked or desecrated by monkeys are allegedly being served to them as diet.
According to sources, without any containment measures, the simians are running amok on the premises and entering the hospital kitchen without any restriction. While their foray into the cooking and storage area during the daytime is scarce due to presence of people, they are apparently having a free run during the night when the kitchen is shut and the personnel leave.
Sources said monkeys have frequently been seen entering the kitchen and licking vegetables and eating the food meant for patients besides scattering the commodities all around, after 11 pm every day once the kitchen is shut for the day. They also rummage the vegetables and other edible cooking items and leave them half-eaten. The desecrated items are reportedly being cooked and served to the patients.
The issue was brought to notice by local corporator J Kameswar Rao who said the cooks and helpers, despite being aware of the fact, have ignored it and use the same items touched by monkeys to prepare food for patients. “Though it is a regular affair, the issue is yet to be taken seriously by the hospital authorities,” he said.
As per information, an outsourcing agency Utkal Suppliers has been assigned the job of preparing the food for patients undergoing treatment at SCB MCH. Similarly, a dietician has been tasked with checking the quality of food prepared by the agency in the kitchen located on the hospital premises. However, none seem to be doing their duty, Rao alleged.
Health experts said, food or items that have been licked by animals can be extremely unsafe as they can contain harmful bacteria and parasites from their saliva. Consuming such food can lead to serious health risk.
Expressing concern over the same, Rao said, “The kitchen should be hygienic given the fact that the food prepared there is meant for patients. But consuming food contaminated by monkeys can pose serious health hazards,” he said demanding a probe into the matter.
SCB MCH registrar (administration) Abinash Rout said the hospital manager has been asked to look into the matter.