Soon, resident doctors won’t face hostel issue: BMC

A new hostel on the premises of Nair Hospital Dental College will be ready to be occupied by February 1.

Mumbai: In a relief to resident doctors working for civic-run hospitals in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has assured to resolve the accommodation problems faced by them. A new hostel on the premises of Nair Hospital Dental College will be ready to be occupied by February 1. It will make room for some internal shuffling to accommodate resident doctors from KEM and Nair hospitals.

The lack of good accommodation facilities was one of the main issues that prompted the resident doctors to go on strike earlier this month. On November 27, HT reported about the conditions of the hostels where resident doctors in the government hospital, both civic and state-run, have been living. While in some places seven students were crammed into the same room, the ceilings and parts of the walls were falling off in others. (HT PHOTO)

Dr Neelam Andrade, medical director of all civic-run hospitals and the dean of Nair Dental College, said, “This new hostel can accommodate 245 students. This will leave the old hostel where the dental students are now living to be accommodated by resident doctors of Nair Hospital. Besides, there is another hostel at Haji Ali where 150 students can be accommodated.”

The lack of good accommodation facilities was one of the main issues that prompted the resident doctors to go on strike earlier this month. On November 27, HT reported about the conditions of the hostels where resident doctors in the government hospital, both civic and state-run, have been living. While in some places seven students were crammed into the same room, the ceilings and parts of the walls were falling off in others.

In October, the resident doctors from King Edward Memorial Hospital, Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Charitable Hospital were asked to vacate the MHADA building that they were allocated during the pandemic. Through several discussions with the BMC authorities, they were able to hold on to them until an alternative came by.

Some of the resident doctors are currently living in an SRA building on Currey Road which will also be vacated during this internal shuffling. The MHADA building in Bhoiwada, which will be vacated soon, can now be used for project-affected people.

President of the city unit of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) Dr Chetan Adrat said the current resolution makes things easier for all the resident doctors involved.

“These moves will also ensure that all the resident doctors are closer to their respective workplaces. Medical education minister, Girish Mahajan, who had spoken to us during the strike said he had floated a long-term plan to construct more modern hostels with sufficient capacity on the premises or close to all the government hospitals,” he said.

The minister had even told the students that if it is needed, the government will take up a few buildings close to their hospitals on rent to provide them with good spaces to live in. Many of the resident doctors still feel that this is a temporary solution, and a more permanent solution to the problem would be to build the in-house hostels as they had discussed with Mahajan.