More than 250 post-graduate first-year students at Osmania Medical College are struggling to buy textbooks and meet their daily expenses after not receiving their stipend since the beginning of the course, five months ago. The college administration claims that they have not received the date of joining letters and attendance sheets from the Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBG) department, thus delaying the process.
Non-clearance of paperwork in one department seems to have clogged the process for students in the remaining 18 departments. The department head's office is at the Modern Government Maternity Hospital in Petlaburj, where most of the OBG first year PG students work. According to a student, they are entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs 27,000. "We are dependent on this money to pay our hostel and mess fee that come up to Rs 22,000 a year," he says.
The biggest expense is the purchase of study material. "Some textbooks cost anywhere between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000. This is apart from the basic expenditure on academic books at Rs 23,000 to Rs 25,000." Apart from this, the students also have to commute between hospitals and the hostel. "Currently we are dependent on our parents to meet these expenses. We will be really relieved if the hurdles are cleared," he adds.
Sources in Modern Government Maternity Hospital say the officials there were unaware of the situation. "The impression was that only stipends of PG students of the Obstetrics and Gynecology were held back. The paperwork has not been cleared as there is no clarity on attendance of the students," they said. "The Head of the OBG department and the unit chiefs have to clear the attendance before preparing papers. Some PG students are not regular and do not report to their unit chiefs which have led to this issue," they claimed.
After securing medical seats in counselling, a student has to report to the concerned Medical College where the admission letter will be handed over. The letter should be taken to the department concerned where the date of joining and attendance report is given after a month. "The letter for the date of joining is important as some students opt out of the course after admission. This letter helps maintain a database of students. However, since the OBG department has delayed sending the letter, the process has choked. This is a one-time process," sources said.
When the issue was brought to the Modern Government Maternity Hospital's notice, superintendent Dr S Nagamani instructed for paperwork to be cleared. She directed staff to issue attendance reports of each student and send it to the OMC principal. The works will be cleared in a day or two, she said.
