Kozhikode Medical College Students Demand Better Hostels as New Batch Arrives
Students at Government Medical College, Kozhikode, urge authorities to repair old hostels, open new ones, and ease overcrowding before the new batch joins.
As the Government Medical College in Kozhikode prepares to welcome a new batch of undergraduate students in about two weeks, the college union has called on authorities to urgently improve hostel facilities. The union's joint secretary, E.S. Anaya, said on Monday that several hostel buildings are old and require immediate repair and maintenance.
Currently, the college has three hostels for undergraduate boys and two for girls. Some female students are being accommodated in quarters meant for senior resident doctors, while house surgeons have a separate building. Although two new hostel buildings are nearly complete, they have not yet been opened for occupancy.
Ms. Anaya noted that a majority of incoming undergraduate students are girls, yet due to space constraints, four to six students are forced to share a single room, which she said is hampering their studies.
On Monday afternoon, a section of students staged a token protest on campus. Their demands included opening the completed hostel buildings, finishing work on under-construction ones, and ensuring accommodation for first-year students without asking current residents to vacate. They also sought better hostel facilities for postgraduate students and the use of unused paying guest accommodations and other campus spaces for student housing.
The college authorities said they have already informed the Directorate of Medical Education about the situation.