18 September,2026 05:26 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Mallika Dua. Pic via Instagram
Actor and comedian Mallika Dua recently slammed the concept of vegetarian hospitals and the lack of non-vegetarian food items served in hospitals. Taking to Instagram, Mallika has shared her views on the dietary considerations of medical facilities and sparked a debate over dietary choices in Indian hospitals.
Mallika took to Instagram to share a pic of herself resting on a hospital bed and wrote, "Also, what is a 'vegetarian hospital'. Completely ridiculous and irresponsible concept. I remember asking about paya soup at Hinduja Hospital once, only to be offered dal ka soup because we are a vegetarian hospital. As if there's any nutritional comparison between dal ka soup and paya soup."
She further added, "How can you be a hospital and a vegetarian? Even Fortis. It's not a restaurant that you run based on religious sentiments. It's not a hospital for cattle. And dal soup is curing nobody of anything." She further noted: "If only all this performative sensitivity were channelled towards bedside manners in doctors."
In her caption, Mallika further elaborated her views on the matter, saying, "Should a hospital with patients of different dietary preferences have a blanket vegetarian-only policy when there is no clinical reason for an individual patient's diet to be vegetarian? When I had dengue I asked the hospital dietician if I could get some Paya soup from my home in a flask. I was told I cannot because it was a vegetarian hospital. They offered dal ka soup even a boiled egg was not permitted."
Further clarifying that her criticism wasn't a blanket attack on the medical fraternity, she wrote, "Please fight me/each other in comments if your sentiments have any issues. Also, please dont try and use this space to play politics against/around doctors. My late mother was a doctor and till date people come up to me talking about how kind she was to them as her patients."
"There is a lack of non-vegetarian food and bedside manners in the best of hospitals. There are also incredible doctors who understand that healing and care are as important as treatment, and their speech and bedside manners reflect that. Contradictions can and do exist. As a patient, I have the right to voice these observations. You don't live in my body or pay my bills." Mallika concluded.
Reacting to her post, one user commented, "Oh God! Someone finally spoke out." Another user wrote, "An absolute s' show, the kind of food being served in hospital canteens and to patients."
Many agreed with Mallika's commentary, suggesting that clinical recovery should strictly prioritise comprehensive nutrition over cultural or religious constraints.
