A fire at a hostel building on the Nair Hospital campus on April 6, Sunday evening, has drawn attention to housing and amenities concerns of resident doctors. The fire was extinguished within an hour, but resident doctors endured 10 days without electricity and water, leading to frustration and protest. Speaking to Lokmat Times, Dr. Akshay Dongardive, a practicing community medicine physician at Nair Hospital, stated, “The fire erupted due to a short circuit in the cooler, and the fire safety inspection of the hostel building left the doctors in a vulnerable position, unable to use basic electricity. What should have been a two-day task took 10 days, leading to the protest. However, the issue is now resolved, but hostels have many more issues that have been ignored or worked on slowly by BMC.”
First-year and second-year doctors complained of poor housing facilities, sanitation issues, water problems, and lack of other amenities in hospitals. Approximately 500 resident doctors reside in Nair Hospital’s hostels, with about 50% being women who also face various issues concerning their accommodation, privacy, and sanitation. Dr. Anvita Ugalmugle, a pathologist, remarked, “When hostel rooms were allotted, I was a bit hesitant because even the walls were not in good condition. Privacy breaches were common due to thin walls. Many hostels are in a similar condition. In our wing of 18 girls, we only have two bathrooms and two toilets, one of which is not in working condition. Being a doctor in such a reputed institution, we deserve respect and proper housing.”
The doctors living in the hostel of Nair Hospital come from different parts of India. Dr. Subhashri Subhadarsini, a Joint Secretary of Nair Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), who also hails from Orissa, said, “We have timely written letters to BMC on behalf of MARD and the doctors associated with it, regarding hostel issues. One major issue is the canteen; for the entire hospital, we have only one canteen with no quality food. There are over 500 doctors, medical staff, and visitors. In the letter, we also raised concerns about insufficient hostel space for upcoming fresh resident batches.” Another doctor, Digvijay Jadhav, teaching forensic medicine, criticized the slow response to doctors' housing requirements, attributing it to a lack of manpower, as everyone is doing additional work to fill the gap, leaving many things unattended. Regarding the issues, attempts to contact Dr. Neelam Andrade, the Dean of Nair Dental College, yielded no response.