SKIMS Medical College students hold protest, demand regular classes

Tasaduq Hussain

Srinagar, Jan 1: Dozens of MBBS students on Friday held a protest outside the SKIMS medical college against suspending their normal classes and converting the premises into a Covid designated hospital.

Joined by PG students this morning, they assembled outside the OPD of Sher Kashmir Medical College (SKIMS) Medical College, Srinagar against authorities for failing to resume the normal classes and patient care.

The protesting students while talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that the SKIMS Medical College authorities have immensely failed to resume normal functioning despite directions from the National Medical Council (NMC), forcing students to suffer.

A protesting MBBS student said that the administration of SKIMS medical college has immensely failed to commence the classes for the students and patient care due to which people are facing difficult times in absence of timely care and surgeries.

A Post Graduate (PG) student part of the protest said that the administration for more than 10 Covid positive patients, has turned the entire hospital into a designated Covid-19 facility, which is entirely unfair.

SR, PG, and UG students have joined the protest today against the administration here to ensure the Covid facility is converted into a non-Covid hospital immediately, he said.

The PG student said that no surgeries were conducted for the past months and people across the Valley are suffering only because not more than 10 Covid patients are enrolled, which is sheer injustice.

Besides Valley people, he said PG, SR, and UG students are suffering equally since there is no IPD, emergency with closed hostels, and no classes.

Citing an example, a PG student said that how can orthopedic and ophthalmology students complete the studies since they’ve not attended a single patient for months now and it’s entirely impossible for them to treat the Covid patients.

He claimed that normally 100 surgeries at the different departments would be undertaken in a month.

He also said that recently (Last Year) the National Medical College (NMC), issued the guidelines to all the medical colleges to start Non-Covid beds but the guildies have been violated by the administration itself.

The protesting students have sought the direct intervention of higher authorities and requested them to resume normal functioning and commence the classwork for students especially the clinical classes—(KNO)