Old issues of food quality crop up with new caterer at Q centres

Nagpur: In a late night drama on Tuesday, a fight broke out between several inmates and an NMC official after they complained to him about alleged poor quality food and contaminated water served at Pachpaoli police quarantine centre.
Though Pachpaoli police officials denied having received any complaint, the inmates accused an NMC official of misbehaving with them under the influence of alcohol. In a video they posted on social media, the inmates are seen mobbing the official and animatedly complaining that they have gone hungry for entire day.
Some inmates also threw steel buckets from the upper floors of a wing near the mob.
The cops intervened and took the official with them before arranging some fruits and biscuits for the inmates who refused to eat the food provided to them.
At the same time, similar complaints over food and water were reported from quarantine centres at MLA Hostel, Ravi Bhavan, Vanamati, Symbiosis and VNIT too. Such confrontations have been happening since past few weeks when Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) took over food arrangements and frequently changed contractors.
On Tuesday too, services of the private caterers were stopped and the NMC roped in Radha Saomi Satsang which is reportedly providing the food for free. The religious group has also provided its sprawling 190-acre campus for setting up a 500-bed Covid Care Centre (CCC) near Kalmeshwar. At its campus, the group had assured to provide free food from its kitchen. In the run-up to starting the CCC, the NMC decided to start its service at existing quarantine centres.
NMC additional commissioner Ram Joshi said the quality of food provided by Radha Saomi Satsang had been approved by top authorities, including himself. “They are offering it as a community service. They follow best hygiene practices. Being a religious group, they are using less spices and oil. It is kind of satvik food having plain dal and grams. May be the inmates didn’t like it though it is healthy food,” he said.
Joshi said around 50 inmates didn’t eat. “We asked the volunteers to make it more spicy after which no problem was reported on Wednesday,” he said.
A contractor has been hired to provide water, tea, coffee, biscuit and milk beside transporting the breakfast, lunch and dinner from the Satsang’s Kalmeshwar kitchen to the centres. NMC is paying Rs52 per person to this contractor.
Pachpaoli senior PI Kishor Nagrale said water problem was reported and 100 cans were brought after which situation came under control. “The inmates complained the food was stale,” he said.