Intruder’s scare keeps students off nursing hostel

The hospital authorities have had the broken window panes replaced and police patrolling around the hostel has been intensified. The hostel has two chowkidarswho work in shifts.

The demand for installation of grills in the hostel, which has again been highlighted by the Punjab Nurses Association (PNA) following the June 10 incident, has been hanging fire for the last two years.

According to PNA president Jiwanpreet Kaur, the association had raised the issue of installing iron grills in the hostel when the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh had inaugurated the present building on July 23, 1994. However, no action has been taken so far.

There is no waiting hall for visitors at the hostel entrance, nor is there any telephone facility at the main gate. As even an intercom connection is not available at the gate, the chowkidar has to traverse from the gate to the hostel for every visitor who comes calling.

There also exists an acute shortage of electrical fittings in the hostel. Sources in the hospital point out that every time a tubelight or a bulb needs to be replaced, a complaint has to be registered at the PWD office in the hospital and it takes time for the complaints to be attended to.

The less said about the general upkeep of the hostel the better. Of three sweepers, one has died and the second is reported to be absent from duty. So the entire premises are being maintained by one sweeper. The weeds and Congress grass around the hostel have become an eyesore in the absence of a gardener.

Principal of the Nursing school Raj Rani said that the issue of installing grills in the hostel was being periodically raised with the higher authorities, including the Medical Superintendent. She claimed that there was no laxity as far as police patrolling was concerned.

She admitted to the absence of a gardener and said temporary arrangements were made through the MS’s office. She claimed that complaints about non-functional tubelights and electric bulbs were promptly attended to.Sources in the hospital told ENS that a notice was found pasted outside the hostel today, saying that the students would resume classes on June 21. The note was immediately removed and an inquiry has been ordered.

Meanwhile, two floors of the nursing school, comprising 40 rooms, have been in a state of utter neglect since 1994, with the leaking roofs, rickety furniture and a thick layer of dust pointing to the fact.

The building was being used as a nursing students’ hostel till 1994. The new building which houses the hostel was initially planned to accommodate the B Sc nursing classes, but the plan was shelved.

Rajesh Chander, Medical Superintendent of Rajindra Hospital, said that he was not aware of the building’s disuse and could not comment on the issue having recently taken charge as the MS.

He said that letters had been sent to the students’ parents, asking them to send back their wards, as a long absence could result in their not being allowed to appear in the final examination.