On call at the ER, junior doctors need to be taken care of hospitals too
Abhishek Malviya, a first year Optometry student of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), passed away due to Covid and Swine flu on August 13. And despite being a doctor, he couldn’t be brought in time for the kind of medical attention he needed to save his life. Besides, not being a hosteller, he didn’t get an ambulance. He lived far away and lost precious hours. His death brought to the fore many issues that medical students face when they do not find accommodation near in the absence of a hostel. Many students, who are on floor duty for hours at a stretch, need the ease of a hostel to manage their lives better, save time and report to the hospital in emergency situations. Malviya’s death was a trigger for their collective anxieties and all Optometry students went on a strike.
After ten days of striking work – and an indefinite hungerstrike six students beginning Monday – the hospital adminration has agreed to their demands of providing hostel facilities to 48 students of the Optometry undergraduate course.
How the strike began
The strike started on August 13 with the death of Malviya. The same day, the Optometry Student’s Association sat on a protest, claiming that he was not provided an ambulance since he was not a hostel resident and with no facilities, students have to live in faraway places. According to his friends and Optometry Students’ Association, had Abhishek been living inside the premises, he could have been taken to the hospital on time. “As he couldn’t get an ambulance, he was brought to the emergency department on a bike,” said Anurag Kumar, a third year Optometry student.
Following the protests on August 15, AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria met them and said that Malviya succumbed due to multiple organ failure since he had contracted both Covid-19 and Swine Flu. “He had severe pneumonia, was positive for H1N1 and Covid-19. I’m aware of the issues brought the students and the policy needs to be changed to accommodate everyone,” he was heard telling protesting students.
Why a hostel crunch at AIIMS
There has been a progressive increase in the number of MBBS students at AIIMS since 2019 due to which the hospital adminration has had to deal with a severe shortage of hostels. The problem became more serious in 2020 when 25 per cent seats were increased for EWS reservations.
While the third and fourth year students got the hostel facility in 2019, the second and first year students were denied the facility after it was halted the adminration. Hospital officials, who remained anonymous, said that considering the need to prioritise on-site hostel facilities for students who are required to attend classes/ tutorials/ clinical postings/duties in the evenings and nights, hostel facilities for students of paramedical courses were stopped from 2020.
According to officials, this was also mentioned in the prospectus for these courses and students were informed of this provision at the time of applying for admission.
How the 10-day protest swung opinion
The 10-day protest resulted in a hungerstrike on Monday before the adminration accepted all the demands. Around 100 students of the course, along with the resident doctors’ association (RDA), continued their 10 day long protest in the campus and sought public funding for building a hostel in the campus. Gradually six students also went on hunger strike after a series or relay hungerstrikes one student each for seven days.
How AIIMS found a solution
On Monday evening, after a meeting, the adminration accepted the demands and it was decided that 14-triple seater rooms, currently occupied BSc (paramedical) students, would be made available to the male BSc (paramedical) students.
Female BSc (Paramedical) students will now be accommodated either in their seniors’ exing facility or moved to the AIIMS Masjid Moth Campus Complex.
Other waitled candidates will be given the option of hostels at NCI Jhajjar. Free transport for attending classes at AIIMS, Delhi campus will be provided. Boarding facility will be on a payment basis. Extension will also be given for the hostel as per approval of the academic section. The policy of allotment will be the same as per exing hostel rules. The timeline for implementation will be 15 days.
During the meeting, it was also decided that a proposal for monetary compensation to the family of Abhishek Malviya will be sent to higher authorities. The adminration has also decided that the show cause notice issued to the students will be withdrawn and attendance for the period of absence will be compensated with extra working hours.
