The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has turned down the demand to vacate the girls’ hostel of Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC), a building it has been occupying since the last 11 years, it has been learnt. Despite several complaints, protests and assurances from the Prime Minister himself, not much progress has been made on the issue.
Due to the situation created by the top ‘accountability’ body of the country, hundreds of students have been deprived of the safe and affordable accommodation. Some live outside the college in private apartments, while a considerable number of female students live in servant quarters and study halls of RMC.
Quratulain, a third-year student at RMC, told The Express Tribune, “The problems we face because of this are huge. Despite Prime Minister Gilani’s intervention NAB did not vacate our hostels.” She said that as a result, a lot of the female students have to live far away from the college and the administration has been forced to make two of us live in a room for one person. Around 400 girls live where 200 used to live two years ago, she said.
The hostel was taken over by NAB back in 1999. At the time the building of RMC, which is located near Pakistan Air Force base Chaklala, was vacant so the bureau established its offices there, which also include four Accountability Courts.
“Around 500 girls live in such miserable condition, to add to that the new batch of the students is due in November,” another college student said. At present, the ratio of girls’ students is 80 per cent of the total strength of the new classes, she said, adding that they approached the administration several times but they cannot do much.
On the other hand, the NAB officials made their stance clear by saying that they could not vacate the building until some alternate arrangements were made.
“We cannot vacate the building till then, we need to find a suitable place for our office first,” said an official.
Dr Umer Saeed of Young Doctors Association told The Express Tribune that the administration was not taking the matter seriously. “They are not implementing the PM’s orders or obeying the observations made by chief justice over the issue so far,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2011.
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