Chhapra, April 11: Patients at Chhapra Sadar Hospital today protested against the stale food being served to them.

Kala-azar patients today staged a dharna at their ward after they were served fungus-infected bread. The patients have been complaining of poor quality food for several days now.

They complained that while there has been an increase in the number of patients in the recent past, the quality of food has gone down.

Ramesh Mahto, a patient from Lalapur village under Marhaurrah police station, said: “We are provided meal thrice a day. But the quality of all the meals is very poor. The breads slices are very thin and taste like papad that are not edible. Vegetables and pulses are watery and tasteless.”

Najma Devi of Rajapatti under Masrakh police station also said she, along with many other patients, is “fed up” with the food. Other patients in the kala-azar ward were of the same opinion.

Deputy superintendent of Chhapra Sadar Hospital Shambhunath Singh agreed that poor quality food was supplied today by a non-governmental organisation called Gyandeep, which infuriated the patients.

“I have warned the NGO and have asked its officials to mend their ways or their contract would be scrapped,” he said, adding that there can be no compromise on the quality of food being given to the patients.

A representative of Gyandeep, Ranjit Singh, on the other hand, told The Telegraph: “The chapattis were provided to them the previous night, that is why they turned stale. A couple of loaves were found with fungus, but they were replaced immediately.”