3 min readChandigarhJun 7, 2025 09:58 AM IST
First published on: Jun 7, 2025 at 09:58 AM IST
Come summer, and the heat and humidity take a toll on all those patients and attendants standing in line to get their daily meal from generous men and women who serve langar outside PGI’s boundary wall, a service that has been continuing for decades.
The area comes under the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, and lacks basic amenities like dustbins and water.
A lot of dust gathers due to the uneven ground and lack of trees. As there is no proper supply of water, utensils are washed in the area, with stale water, leftover food, used plates, etc, also causing a foul smell.
The PGI authorities had previously requested the MC to create some temporary sheds, dustbins, a system of regular cleaning and water supply, install benches, and deploy a sanitary inspector.
Now the area where langar is served has been cleared and the process of putting new tiles has started.
As per a worker here, they are levelling the ground and to make the area even and cleaner, new tiles will be put, and it will take a few weeks to complete the process.
“Langar has not stopped. It has been temporarily shifted to the gate near Sector 11. We hope that the area is made cleaner for our langar service. Many of us come from far-off places in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal in our trucks, tempos and vehicles, and serve all meals a day to patients from across the region, who have to be here sometimes for weeks with their family,” says Sukhpal Pal, from Kharar, with kadhi-chawal and besan ladoo to serve lunch to patients.
The service was started by Jagdish Lal Ahuja, a Padma Shri awardee, who passed away in November 2021.
Known as ‘Langar Baba’ for serving free food to patients every day for more than two decades, he had begun distributing free food to people outside PGI and later Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector 32 (GMCH-32), since January 2000.
Many were inspired by his effort, and since then the langar service has grown, with many part of this initiative.
The tribe has grown ever since, with the langars beginning from 10 am and continuing till 10 pm.
As PGIMER witnesses an outpatient department (OPD) of about 10,000 patients a day, with attendants accompanying them, the queues for food and tea have become longer.
“To ease the pressure on the area, the MC should create more amenities and probably serve packed food to maintain hygiene, and also create make-shift sheds for the comfort of patients and servers in the heat, and monsoons. This is a service that needs not just the support of people, but also of the Administration,” says Manjeek Kaur, who comes here with her son from a village near Ropar to serve langar daily, except Sunday.
Langar outside PGI’s boundary wall has been continuing for decades.
(Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh) 
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