Patna, May 1: Patna Medical College will get a new hostel that would provide accommodation to 150 students.

The health department has allocated a sum of Rs 10.3 crore for construction of the new hostel within the college.

The nod for the fund was given on April 28. Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation would be entrusted with the job of choosing an agency for taking up the construction work.

At present, the premier medical college does not have sufficient space to accommodate all its students. While more than 900 undergraduate and postgraduate students of the college live in its various hostels, around 200 UG and PG students of the institution are forced to stay outside, which is against the norms laid down by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The college has two PG boys' hostels, one PG girls' hostel, three UG boys' hostels, one UG girls' hostel and one hostel for interns.

"The college administration had asked us to provide funds for the new hostel. The MCI team had raised objections regarding the lack of space in the college hostels," said an official of the health department who did not wish to be named.

College principal S.N. Sinha confirmed the move and said the new hostel would help in overcoming the accommodation problem.

"We have a space crunch but we try to provide hostel accommodation to all our students. Some opt to live outside because they are not comfortable with the kind of arrangements being offered by us," he said.

Students welcomed the decision to have a new hostel on campus. MBBS first-year student Gaurav Kumar, who at present resides in a private accommodation, said: "It is really costly to stay outside. I pay a monthly rent of Rs 3,000 whereas the hostel room fee is just Rs 300 a month. A new hostel would be a boon for students like us."

Senior PMCH students, who have spent several years in the institution, are, however, sceptical.

"It took eight years to construct the new PG hostel and that too remained incomplete. I am not too hopeful about the pace of construction of the new hostel," said Rakesh Kumar, the president of the Junior Doctors' Association of Patna Medical College and one of the PG students of the college.

He also criticised the way students are accommodated in the existing hostels with some rooms having as many as six occupants.