Kolkata: Set Up Covid Safe Homes in Campus Buildings, Students' Unions Urge Presidency University

The Presidency University Students’ Council and Independent Consolidation have separately urged the vice-chancellor to convert vacant buildings on the campus into safe homes for COVID-19 patients. The SFI-controlled PUSC, which runs the students’ council after securing the majority in university polls two years back, urged the vice-chancellor, Anuradha Lohia, to spare some of the rooms of the institution for setting up safe homes to help mild/asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

In a separate mail, the IC asked the university administration to make similar arrangements on the campus ”for non-critical COVID-19 patients when people are dying because of the non-availability of hospital beds and other facilities”. When contacted, Lohia told PTI, ”we are proud of our students who have shown their commitment to the needs of society and the role Presidency can play in the present situation. But this is not our call, only the state health department can take a decision on this matter.” The PUSC mail, signed by its president Mimosa Ghorai among others, said, ”as an autonomous university, we think Presidency should take a lead in this matter as the COVID situation is worsening in our state and our country every day.

Kindly look into this matter, without hampering the academic activities of our University and its allied processes. ”The auditoriums, seminar halls and other vacant spaces of the university can be turned into safe homes,” she said.

The vice-chancellor said, during the COVID-19 outbreak last year, the state government had inspected the infrastructure of the university for setting up a safe home but did not go ahead with it. ”This time too it is entirely up to the government. We are a state-run university. The buildings belong to the state.

In a safe home, some medical facilities are provided by the health department. So it is the government’s call, whether they want to set up a such a facility in Presidency,” Lohia said.

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