Students at the Government Medical College in Asifabad, Telangana, are protesting due to severe faculty shortages, inadequate facilities, and poor infrastructure, including insufficient laboratories and sanitation.
The college, which offers 100 MBBS seats, was one of the nine government medical colleges inaugurated by former Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao in September 2023. Currently, two batches of students are enrolled, and both have joined the demonstration to raise their concerns.
According to NMC guidelines, a medical college with 100 MBBS seats requires 82 faculty members for the first year and 117 for the second year. However, Government Medical College Asifabad fails to meet these requirements.
A second-year MBBS student from the college told EdexLive, on the condition of anonymity, that certain subjects have no qualified faculty, and classes are frequently conducted by senior resident doctors instead.
“We are being taught by postgraduate students as there is a severe shortage of faculty members. There are other issues as well. We were admitted in 2023 and till date, have only been to two to three practical classes. This is because there is no lab equipment. Recently, when we enquired about the same from the college administration, we were told that they have received the equipment but are yet to be installed in the labs,” the student said.
The students highlighted that the college lacks basic requirements set by the National Medical Commission (NMC). For example, while the NMC mandates a minimum of eight cadavers for dissection and practical purposes in medical colleges, the students in GMC Asifabad are yet to get a single one.
“Sanitation is also a huge problem for students. There are no dustbins, the campus lacks proper sanitation staff. There is no transportation facility or permanent hostels for the students. We have sent multiple representations to the administration in the last two years,” the student further said.
Today, on January 3, Telangana’s Director of Medical Education (DME) Dr N Vani visited the campus where students have been protesting and assured them that their concerns will be addressed.
As informed by the students, the DME assured that deputation faculty would be sent from GMC Mancherial and Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Adilabad temporarily, and additional sanitation staff would be deployed to the campus.
Chairperson of Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA), Dr Srinath, said, “The issue is not unique to Asifabad Medical College; most new medical colleges are facing similar challenges with inadequate infrastructure and faculty. We are now demanding that the government recruit assistant professors and associate professors on a regular basis, rather than on a contract basis, and provide infrastructure that meets NMC standards.”
