JOIN USNorth Corporation hospital needs infra boost
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation Medical College, which was pulled up by the Medical Council of India last year for gaps in its infrastructure, is still suffering from several deficiencies, students point out.
Currently, the medical college lags behind in facilities like round-the-clock library services, adequate hostel accommodation and well-equipped laboratories. The college, attached to Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, was set up in 2013. It is affiliated to Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University.
In 2015, the Medical Council of India (MCI) directed the college not to admit a fresh batch of MBBS students after an executive committee found infrastructural deficits.
The college, however, was allowed to continue with the admissions after it submitted a compliance report. The committee had also highlighted that there was an inadequate number of faculty members. Among other issues, it also noted the shortage of cadavers at the institute for each batch of 50 students.
“The biggest difficulty that we are facing at the moment is the library opening hours. Library services should be available throughout the day without which it is difficult for MBBS students to do well in the course. The infrastructure for the laboratories also needs to improve,” said a third year MBBS student.
Other students said that there is an immediate need to boost the overall infrastructure of the medical college and an increase the number of faculty members. "There is no sports ground here for students. This is a major drawback. We have requested the administration several times for a sports ground in the campus,” said another third year student.
The existing facilities at the hostel are not enough to accommodate all students undertaking the MBBS curriculum and the mess facilities are not up to the mark, said students.
The hospital administration said it is currently focusing on increasing the staff strength.
“We are first working on improving the laboratory facilities, increasing the staff strength and strengthening the provisions of accommodation. Currently, the library runs 12 hours a day and can be opened for 24 hours only once we recruit additional staff,” Dr D K Seth, Director, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Medical College.
“There is space crunch on the campus and it is difficult to accommodate a sports ground. So we have incorporated a badminton court for now,” said Dr Seth.
The corporation has plans to come up with a new hostel and college blocks for its students.