As docs call for security at hospital, BHU admin grapples with money matters

Varanasi: In the last one year, doctors have gone on strike for a number of times calling for better security arrangements at BHU’s SSL Hospital and other medical establishments but the promises made to them are yet to see the light of the day.
When TOI contacted chief proctor Prof OP Rai on Sunday to know about progress in enhancement of security, he said: “We We started the process to increase the number of security personnel in university’s proctorial board to enhance security of hospitals under Institute of Medical Science-BHU after junior residents’ strike in November 2019 but it could not materialise due to insufficient budget.”
According to proctorial board officials, around 150 security personnel are being deployed for the security of hospitals while there is a requirement of 450 in view of opening of new wings.
“New wings like super specialty and cancer centre have come with provision of budget for security. Major problem is being faced at trauma centre and SSL hospital where stopping students from other departments of university is a challenging task,” he said.
He said demand for 250 more security personnel had been forwarded to university administration following November 2019 strike.
“Currently, university’s proctorial board has strength of over 800 security personnel. Maximum expenditure is made on their salaries, which range between Rs 25,000 and Rs 28,000 while budget is also required for security equipment, vehicles and other resources. According to rough estimate, the annual budget of proctorial board is around Rs 9 crores, which is mainly spent on salaries,” he said.