Hon’ble Minister to AIIMS: get me dhaniya, dal, ghee, mixie, etc etc

Senior doctors and staff at AIIMS, sources said, are in a tizzy over the unusual demands made on them by Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss who has decided to stay at the AIIMS guest house till he gets suitable government accommodation.

Ramadoss, however, remains unfazed. He told The Indian Express: ‘‘I am a Cabinet minister and entitled to a suite in Ashoka Hotel. And if I had exercised that choice, the bill would have run into lakhs.’’

‘‘As health minister,’’ he added, ‘‘I am also head of the AIIMS and that’s why I am entitled to use the guest house.’’

Finding the guest house food not to his taste, Ramadoss has brought his own cook and set up his own kitchen. In a letter dated June 16, 2004, the estate section of the AIIMS forwarded the list containing ‘‘47 groceries items (through the cook) for use in preparation of meals’’ for the minister and his guests. Ramadoss’s cook has left nothing out. Besides salt (3 packets), turmeric (200 g), chilly powder (200 g) and dals and spices, the list also includes items like “pattai leaves” (50 g), “pottu kadalai” (1 kg), “idhayam” (1 kg), and “chinna onion” (2 kg) to be bought from a specified south Indian store in Delhi’s Munirka.

Groceries apart, Rs 25,000 worth of utensils including a mixie, cooker, hot case, a dozen “steel tumblers” and big and small vessels have been ordered.The kitchen is not the only place under renovation. On June 15, according to another letter from the estate section, the “Hon’ble minister” visited the guest house and “suggested the following jobs be looked into urgently.” They include a new double bed and sofa chairs in Suite No. I, ‘‘full carpeting’’ in Suite No 1 and 2, replacement of the shower systemand a new ‘‘cascade type system’’ to replace the cistern in the bathroom of Suite no. 1. He also demanded a “health facit spray”, whatever that means.