Students deserve spacious accommodation

Representation pic

A hostel accommodation crisis has gripped Mumbai Central's Nair Dental Hospital and College, with the college administration now seeking another land parcel from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the sanctioned Haji Ali hostel will accommodate only around 110 students against a student strength of at least 450. The dean stated that accommodating a few PG students in this very hospital building is useful because if there is an emergency, she can deploy them. But accommodating 450 students is simply impossible.

There are fears too that the Haji Ali building will overshoot its deadline.

Every effort must be made for student accommodation. Medical and dental college students who have arrived here for their studies must be able to access some hostel, as it is natural that these students will gravitate to the megapolis for studies.

Existing facilities, though small, must also be hygienic, safe and livable. We have any amount of examples where student accommodation is dilapidated. It is unsafe, unhygienic and simply unlivable.

Attention and action are needed when it comes to student housing across the metropolis. On one hand, we are chuffed about being a major medical tourism destination, with a healthcare system that is laudable and talk about our doctors being at the forefront of different medical innovations and breakthroughs.

We see and hear about India-trained doctors, many of them from Mumbai, doing stellar work overseas. Yet, student accommodation remains subpar and inadequate in a space-challenged city. Let our brilliant minds blossom here through dignified living.