The relay hunger strike by nursing students of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) has entered its 18th day with no signs of truce with the health authorities. The students have now decided to up the ante by launching an indefinite hunger strike from Wednesday.
The protest is against the proposal to shift the nursing college and hostel from the OGH campus. Nearly 500 nursing students have boycotted regular classes and medical duties as part of the strike.
Student demands
The authorities had proposed to take up construction of the new OGH building in place of the existing nursing college and hostel. Members of the Student Nurses Association said several round of talks between health authorities and students have failed to break the impasse.
In addition to an assurance of status quo on the location of the college and hostel, the students are also demanding improved hostel facilitiesvision for a warden, security and a better mess facility.
“We even met Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy seeking help on the matter. Nobody has taken our protest seriously and that’s why we have decided to launch an indefinite hunger strike from tomorrow [Wednesday],” said SNA (OGH unit) president A. Bhargav Rani.
Hostel security
Students also want more security for the nursing hostel, which accommodates for 250 nursing students.
“There is no security for the nurses. We do not have a warden to look after the hostel activities. There are issues related to the quality of food served in the mess. The government has the responsibility to improve our problems,” the students said.
