HYDERABAD: Over 60 first-year MBBS students at Government Medical College (GMC), Mahbubabad, are on tenterhooks over availability of accommodation as their final examinations are scheduled to start from September 2.
For the last 10 months, they have been temporarily housed in cramped conditions at the JNTU engineering college hostel, with up to 20 students sharing a single room, using bunker beds, and one washroom. Promises of a new, well-equipped hostel have not been fulfilled, leaving students in a state of uncertainty.
In early August, the engineering college authorities instructed GMC to vacate the hostel to make way for a fresh batch of engineering students. This has forced many first-year students to seek expensive private paying guest (PG) accommodations and rental rooms just days before their exams.
“We’ve repeatedly requested the college administration to allocate the new hostel, but there’s been no progress due to incomplete power and water connections. We were told the hostel would only be available after a formal inauguration by the health minister,” a first-year female student, now residing in a private hostel, told TNIE.
The infrastructure challenges extend beyond the hostel issue. Established in 2022, GMC Mahbubabad was promised a dedicated campus, including a college building, hostels, library, and staff quarters by December 2023.
However, construction remains incomplete due to a severe shortage of funds. The four-story boys’ hostel and five-story girls’ hostel still lack water and power connections, and the main college building is unfinished. For three years, the college has operated out of two lecture halls and a library within a nursing college, serving 450 students across three batches and 130 faculty members, with the library also functioning as a laboratory.
Second and third-year students are accommodated in private hostels, while first-year male students are housed in the old district collectorate office building. “There is no permanent hostel or proper classrooms. Previous batches have faced the same struggles, and now the third batch is suffering. The Health department’s inaction has caused significant hardship,” said O Damayanthi, a second-year student, who is staying in a private hostel.
GMC Principal Dr Venkat Lakavath, who has been addressing the issue since his appointment in February 2024, stated, “We’ve been managing classes and exams for 450 students despite these challenges. With the engineering college hostel no longer available, we have arranged temporary accommodation in the library dormitory. We’ve urged the Directorate of Medical Education to act, especially with a fourth batch joining soon.”
Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (JUDA) members indicated that the health minister may inaugurate one hostel building on September 3. However, students and faculty stress that this alone will not address the infrastructure deficiencies plaguing the institution.