Virudhunagar Government Medical College hospital gets chapati-maker

Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital has procured a roti-maker that has a capacity to make some 1,500 chapatis for dinner for inpatients

Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital has procured a roti-maker that has a capacity to make some 1,500 chapatis for dinner for inpatients.

The Dean, Seethalakshmi, said that as per the Government Order, inpatients had option of kichidi and chapati as diet for dinner. However, some 100 to 200 inpatients were served chapati while others were given kichidi for supper. “A few weeks ago, a patient asked me why chapati is not given to all when I went for night rounds,” the Dean said. 

Later, the Diet Committee recommended to provide chapatis to all in-patients, numbering around 750, at night. “Our cook and his assistants were manually rolling the chapatis. Though we have chapati batter maker, the rolling of around 1,500 chapatis became a difficult task,” she told the media. Hence, a roti-maker was procured at a cost of ₹2.97 lakh. 

“When the batter is put into the chapati-maker, it rolls the chapatis in uniform size. It can make up to 500 chapatis an hour. There is provision to adjust the speed and thickness of the chapati in the machine,” she added. 

For the last three months, all the inpatients were provided with two chapatis each with vegetable kuruma thrice a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the other days, kichidi is served so that inpatients are not bored with the same dish. 

Among the government hospitals in the State, Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital is the first to get this machine, the Dean said.

Resident Medical Officer Dr. J. Muralidharan, Medical Superintendent Dr. Anbuvel, Assistant RMO Dr. Sultan Mohammed Ibrahim, and Junior Administrative Officer Chandrasekar were present.