Presidency University students write to VC, call for vacant buildings to be used to help non-critical COVID patients as bed crisis deepens

The student group Independents Consolidation (IC) wrote to the Vice-Chancellor and asked the administration to use the free spaces for setting up the centre
Presidency University (Pic: PTI)
Presidency University (Pic: PTI)

 The students of Presidency University in Kolkata have asked the administration to spare some of the unused rooms of the varsity to set up 'safe homes' or non-critical COVID centres for patients who need care but are unable to get that kind of help at home.

The student group called Independents Consolidation (IC) wrote to the Vice-Chancellor and asked the administration to use the free spaces for setting up the centre. "The Hindoo College, today's Presidency University, was founded as a result of citizens' initiative, a history which has led its students to always focus on the needs of the larger society," read an email that was also sent to the Dean and Registrar among other officials. 

"We are aware of the fact that, currently, many buildings of the University campus are laying vacant, and won’t be used for a substantial period of time as the campus remains closed due to the ongoing pandemic. On the other hand, we see that there is a crisis of beds for COVID patients in the state. This is the least we can do in a situation when hundreds of people are dying because of the unavailability of hospital beds and other facilities. Especially, when there is a specific crisis for essential supports like ventilation, ICU etc, if we could move non-critical patients to such safe homes, this would help ease the pressure on the hospitals," said Ahan Karmakar, a member of IC and a third-year student of BSc Economics at the varsity.

The students have also offered to help in "both the establishment and the smooth functioning of the COVID safe home." Whether the administration and the West Bengal government will take them up on their offer remains to be seen. We have reached out to the varsity for their comment on the matter. 

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