Ogling, molestation running big business in medical college; nobody dares to complain

It is the medical college in Thiruvananthapuram that sees most patients if taken a count all across the state. 4000 people throng the OP section on a daily basis while more than 800 come to casualty for treatment. As of now, the board has renewed service from a private agency to deploy guards on the hospital premise. Rs 40 lakhs and above are needed on a yearly basis to pay these guards. However, the deployment of guards has given nothing good in reports as the hospital premise is currently under the reigns of robbers and dreaded gang criminals. In the past few months alone, many doctors and hospital staff were targeted by these gangs. Nothing brutal has happened yet but how long does sheer luck work in favor of health workers?

People from neighboring districts depend on this medical college in the capital for treatment. These people are least familiar with the nooks and corners of the city which eventually drags them into the pit of fraud. Chain snatching teams are running an active business in these areas while vehicle robbery has also increased immensely. Others are involved in ogling, molesting women in the dark of the night and nobody dares to raise a finger on such issues. The gangs are notorious and have an ill repute. Minding the repercussions, the feeble patients and families won't dare a move against them. A police aid post started near the premise is lackadaisical with no staff, rated as kaput. In case of any violence, more police will be deployed from the station but will soon be called back after the case loses its steam.

The government earlier proposed bringing in the state industrial security force(SISF) to clean the premise from the shackles of criminals and ganglords. The SISF even conducted a location study and asked for responses from the authorities. However, it requires at least Rs 6 lakh from the medical college coffers to pay for the SISF guards every month. The medical college boards have written off such prospects as the income and expenditure lag behind, not helping the SISF proposal.

If the budget gets cleared, 15 SISF officials will blanket the hospital premise which will help boost the security apparatus as the medical college also connects to RCC and SIT hospitals. Patients and bystanders attacking hospital staff in the dark of the night have also turned a routine. Many staffs are being threatened with weapons by criminals on the premise. The lack of equipment and the paltry number of guards stymies a pushback.

14 freezers out of the 48 in the medical college mortuary have stopped working for three months. Keralakaumdi reported the case and brought it to the government's notice but to no avail. Many reasons this for the crippled economy which is proving a hindrance to the fund flow towards the upkeep of medical college. Anyways, the finance department should work its way to adopting prudent tactics to help develop the medical college from the shackles of detriment.