Just weeks into college, a first-year undergraduate medical student had barely settled into lessons in human anatomy when a dog bit her friend in their college hostel corridor.

In the weeks that followed, the disruptions mounted. As summer temperatures rose, rooms turned stifling. Then came a flood of messages and images — hair, insects and maggots in hostel food.

For many, that combination — heat, dogs, worms — became the flashpoint.

Dozens of students at the Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) in New Delhi staged a protest on campus on Monday, alleging a persistent lack of response from authorities to complaints about heat, food quality and stray dogs in their hostel.

Students said that without air conditioners, some had bought desert coolers that work best with room doors left open. But dogs have entered rooms at night and in some cases, bitten residents.

“The LHMC is among the country’s most prestigious central government-run colleges. If this is the state of infrastructure there, it raises questions about conditions elsewhere,” said Rohan Krishnan with the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), a body of postgraduate students and doctors.

In a letter submitted to the college administration on Monday, LHMC students cited insects in food, denial of permission to install air conditioners, non-functional drinking water coolers, and stray dogs entering corridors and bathrooms.

They also posted photographs on social media showing a maggot allegedly found in a meal, a dead insect in another, a dog drinking from a hostel bathroom, and several dogs in corridors.

“This is not just about discomfort. This is about the health, dignity, and safety of medical students,” the students wrote in their letter. “We are future doctors, yet we are being forced to live in conditions that are harmful to both our physical and mental well-being.”

A query sent by this newspaper via email to LHMC authorities seeking their response to the students’ concerns has not elicited a response.

Krishnan said such complaints are not unique to one medical college. Similar concerns, he said, have been reported from medical colleges in Bhopal and Lucknow, though many students hesitate to speak out for fear of repercussions, particularly in private institutions.

A student at the LHMC said complaints about the heat had been raised repeatedly.

“We had complained about the heat last year and the year before too,” she said. “They first told us the building is very old and the wiring will not support air conditioners. Then last year they said they would change the wiring, but it still hasn’t happened,” the student said on Monday.

The college is among the most sought-after by undergraduates, with some placing it just behind the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi.

FAIMA has long expressed concern that the Centre’s expansion of medical colleges and seats has not been matched by infrastructure growth. Government data show faculty shortages across several of the new All India Institute of Medical Sciences campuses, Krishnan said.

The Union health ministry told Parliament on February 13 that the LHMC has 88 vacancies against its 386 sanctioned faculty posts. AIIMS Delhi has 446 vacancies out of 1,306, and AIIMS Kalyani has 134 out of 309.

India has added 69,352 new MBBS seats over the past decade, a 127 per cent increase.