HYDERABAD: In a shocking case of lack of empathy, the frontline warriors and female house surgeons of Kakatiya Medical College (KMC), Warangal have been asked to vacate their hostel by January 17, failing which electricity and water supply would be cut. The issue arose after the college management decided to turn their hostel into an isolation ward, leaving 83 female house surgeons of the 2016 batch virtually shelterless.
In a letter to the hospital superintendent and the District Collector, the house surgeons, under the banner of Junior Doctors Association, urged the authorities to reverse the decision. “The news has been sudden and came as a shock to us. We have no alternative accommodation. As our hostel (female house surgeons block) is right opposite the Female PGs block, there is also a risk of them getting infected thereby causing a shortage of staff,” they said.
It is also learnt that eventually, the college administration allotted them a new accommodation outside the campus, which has only 16 rooms to accommodate 83 girl students. “The rooms are very small, poorly ventilated and in an unhygienic condition. How are we supposed to cope and adjust to the new accommodation amidst hectic duties,” they asked.
The doctors are distressed that with only four months left in their internship, the sudden shift will be stressful and would impact their work. “It is not clear why they chose only this hostel when there are other vacant hostels where isolation wards can be set up. The students in those hostels have gone home for the Sankranti break. This sudden threat of shutting the water supply is disheartening. Is this what we get for the service we rendered in the last one year?” asked a student on condition of anonymity.