About 100 female nursing students of School of Nursing Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) Karachi have not been provided mess service from Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) since last seven months due to KMC financial crisis and the nursing students living in hostel have to arrange their own meals.
Sources at AbbasiShaheedHospital seeking anonymity said that Karachi Metropolitan Corporation administration stopped supply of food to School of Nursing ASH students in September 2014 and since then about 100 nursing students residing in the nursing hostel have been deprived of three time meals, earlier provided to these students on daily basis.
The School of Nursing institution was established in 1974 and since then hundreds of female nursing students have passed four year diploma in nursing and now serving in hospitals in Pakistan and abroad. The government has sanctioned 100 seats of nurses and currently 97 students are enrolled in the institution out of which 30 are Muslims.
Sources said KMC pays Rs 3000 stipend to each nursing student on monthly basis after deducting Rs 300 rupees per month on account of messing service to them. However, the KMC administration has stopped altogether the supply of food to the institution due to its financial crisis.
They informed that faculty members of School of Nursing are also waiting for promotion from several years and authorities concerned do not pay heads their issue.
In-chargeSchool of Nursing Mess, Ishrat Jehan, told PPI that the nursing students were facing great hardships in arranging their meals in the hostel. She said the supply of food to nurses’ mess was stopped due to some unknown reasons in September 2014.