AIIMS Delhi to shut mess, cafe over hygiene complaints

AIIMS Delhi administration has decided to shut down a mess and a cafe in two hostels over the sub-standard quality of food and poor hygienic conditions.

The RDA AIIMS Delhi raised the issue of unhygienic food in AIIMS mess and cafe, and said while the stakeholders in hostel administration give more importance to tender contractors, residents are fighting for hygienic food in India's premier Institute of National Importance.

RDA AIIMS Delhi wrote a letter to the director Dr Randeep Guleria and said that during a surprise inspection by the representatives of RDA, Scientists of Young Society and AIIMS Students Association in the presence of the hostel warden, security officials and a Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) official on August 10, poor hygienic conditions were noticed.

The doctors association raised many issues regarding the hygienic conditions and poor quality of food such as rotten vegetables, fungus growing and ants roaming in the freezer, live rats in the utensil cleaning area, lizards in the flour storage area, and mess workers working without gloves or aprons.

"The irregularities were so severe that everyone present reasoned out that if the mess continued to function it could cause a major health hazard," the RDA said in the letter, as reported by NDTV.

Following this, the store's officer (hostel) at AIIMS, in an order on August 27, said, "In view of the observations during the surprise inspection of the various messes by members of the food safety and hygiene committee, the executive members of the user organizations, and food safety inspectors it has been decided to shut down the messes in Hostel 7 and the cafe in hostel 5 with effect from the morning of Tuesday."

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