No stipend for 5 months for students of TS Government Dental College

Hyderabad: Students of Government Dental College, Telangana, who are doing their internships have not received their stipends for five months.

Speaking with NewsMeter, Dr. Manzur, the national president of All-India Dental Students Association, said besides the delay in payment of stipends, there are a plethora of other issues like filling posts already notified and lack of basic facilities in the college.

"The washrooms aren't in good condition. A few of them don't have latches. Even clean drinking water has become an issue, and the water purifier plant also needs repairs," he added.

The college hostel is in Koti while the dental college and hospital is in Afzalgunj, about 3km away.

"A bus was provided for the students earlier, but now that facility is not there. We are not sure why they are not using the bus as it is difficult for students, especially girls, if they have to go to the college or hospital in the late evenings," said Dr. Manzur.

Speaking about filling up positions, he said there are over 12,000 vacancies in the health department notified by the Telangana government; of that, 36 are in dental. "Not only filling up those posts but we need more posts. Right now, we only have one government dental college in the state which is insufficient," he explained.

Dr. Manzur along with ADISA state president Dr. Vamshi and vice-president Dr. Tarun Teja Mallam met Telangana health minister Harish Rao on Tuesday to discuss the issues.

Dr. Manzur said they have also requested the state to increase the number of PG seats and dental posts in every medical college in the state. "The government has promised at least one medical college in each district, so those colleges should include a dental wing," he added.

Meanwhile, the college officials said they are hoping the stipend will be released in a week or two.

The stipend dues will be cleared by the directorate of medical education.

When NewsMeter tried to contact the college principal to know the reasons behind the delay in payment of stipend, we couldn't get a response.