Resident doctors at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here have written to the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and met the hospital administration asking them to look into the problem of acute shortage of hostel rooms which has forced several doctors and medical students to stay outside the campus.
“This is not a new problem that doctors and the medical students at the Institute are facing. We have been complaining about eve-teasing, unsafe neighbourhood and the problems of commuting to and from the hospital at odd hours because there is no accommodation available within the campus,'' said a resident at the hostel.
The AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) has complained that though the Institute authorities had promised a 1,600-room luxury hostel three years ago, even its construction has not started.
“Doctors here have to often work for long hours and finish work at odd hours. This becomes a problem for those staying outside the campus as there is no secure transportation facility available to those staying off campus. The AIIMS administration had promised that things would improve and that the waiting period for a room would be considerably shorter after the luxury hostel is completed,'' said Resident Doctors' Association president Debjyoti Karmakar.
The Society of Young Scientists (consisting of M.Sc. and Ph.D. students at the Institute) too has now joined the RDA to ask for more hostel accommodation.
“In the first year of residency, 70 per cent of the doctors including women are compelled to stay outside the campus. They are faced with a lot of harassment and often complain of eve-teasing. The Institute over the past decade has increased the intake of students and doctors but it has not so far looked into the problem of shortage of hostel rooms. Pressure for hostel rooms has increased and there is an average waiting period of two years before getting an accommodation on the campus. The hospital administration should look into the matter and make more space available for students and doctors,'' said a senior resident at the Institute.
