COIMBATORE: An unwritten rule of not allowing non-vegetarian food to be cooked at the community hall run by Coimbatore city police at Uppilipalayam was consigned to the dustbin on Friday after police commissioner V Balakrishnan ordered an end to the discriminatory practice. Balakrishnan initiated the action after TNIE brought the issue to his notice.
The matter came to light after a Christian family approached the hall in-charge recently to book the hall for a family function. The hall administrator told the family that they would not be allowed to prepare non-vegetarian dishes in the kitchen.
“As we stressed that non-vegetarian food cannot be avoided in our functions, he told us to prepare the food outside and serve it in the hall dining area. But he strictly said no utensil from the hall should be used to serve the non-veg food. Though the hall has adequate facilities and has easy connectivity, we could not hold the function there because of the food restriction,” said the person who did not want to disclose his name.
“The attitude of looking down on non-vegetarians should be changed. It is a kind of food discrimination and it’s a shame that the police department, which should work against such social evils, encourages such practices,” he added.
To verify the allegation, TNIE on Friday approached the community hall in-charge under the pretext of booking the facility for an event.
He explained the charges – Rs 35,000 rent (24 hours), Rs 5,000 advance, Rs 2,000 per hour for AC, and Rs 15 for each unit of electricity consumed — and the condition of cooking only vegetarian food.
When asked about the restriction on cooking non-vegetarian food, the officer said it was an oral instruction that is being followed for years.
TNIE immediately brought the issue to the notice of police commissioner V Balakrishnan who held an inquiry and ordered the practice to be stopped immediately.
The commissioner said, “The hall authorities have been following it since 2011 after they faced some bad experiences. We did not give any instruction to restrict any dishes. I have told them to withdraw the practice and to keep two sets of utensils for preparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.”