AIIMS paramedical students protest for hostel accommodation
Aug 16, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 16 : The undergraduate paramedical students of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi have started a protest demanding hostel allotment.
The students said that they are facing problems because the AIIMS administration is not providing them with accommodation.
"Our juniors are not getting hostel accommodation and for the last two years, we have been asking for a hostel as living in South Delhi is very expensive for a middle-class student", said Gaurav Kumar Singh who is an intern in Bachelor of Optometry.
The students said that they are forced to live on high-rent nearby areas since the accommodation is not available and it is very hard to manage.
The students claimed that they are not able to utilise the premises of the campus.
Ananya Tripathi, another intern in Bachelor of optometry said, "We suffer for not having hostel accommodation as food and women security is not there which makes our survival difficult. Security is the most important factor. After the 2019 batch, we couldn't get hostel accommodation while we have been demanding accommodation but we are still waiting for a response."
Responding to the protest by the students, the AIIMS administration said that there has been a progressive increase in the number of students at AIIMS New Delhi and there is a severe shortage of hostels for all students. Students of BSc paramedical courses are not provided hostels at AIIMS since 2020.
"This is written in the prospectus for these courses and all students are fully aware of this provision at the time of applying for admission. This is also the case for many other institutions and other AIIMS. This has been communicated to the students on many occasions through past meetings and their representations have also been forwarded to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. There is provision for expansion of hostels for all students in the AIIMS master plan," the administration further added in their statement.
However, earlier on Monday, the director of AIIMS, Dr. Randeep Guleria said that the master plan to re-develop AIIMS has been submitted to the government in which 4000 hostel units have been included with other facilities for the campus.
The project will also include new 50 new operation theatres and over 3000 patient care beds, including 300 emergency beds in the present Institute of the campus.
"This project will result in the transformation of AIIMS New Delhi into a world-class medical University with the creation of these facilities," Guleria said on Monday.
