Jamshedpur, Feb. 4: Wanted, a modern day Pied Piper to rid Tata Main Hospital (TMH) of not rats, but cats.

Fortified after the recent attacks on three of its doctors, the hospital may have succeeded in keeping out antisocial elements, but has been rendered helpless in the face of the feline menace.

The operations and housekeeping wing of the hospital are at their wit’s end, trying to figure out ways of getting rid of the cats, who have a free run of the compound, and can sometimes be found spotted curled up on empty beds.

So grim is the situation that the TMH management has requisitioned local “cat catchers” to control the menace, with limited success. While some cats have been driven out of the campus, others have proved more stubborn.

The hospital management swung into action following a complaint by human rights activist Jawaharlal Sharma. “I was shocked to see full-grown cats sitting on vacant beds in the maternity ward. I immediately pointed it out to the attendants, who asked me to note down the complaint on the register, which I did,” he said.

Sharma said according to the attendants and patients, the cats have easy access to the maternity ward. “The sisters told me that the cats sit on the beds frequently,” he added.

Sharma said the presence of cats in the maternity section not only put a a question mark on the safety of newborns, there was also an added danger of infection spreading. “It is a serious matter and a solution must be found to end this problem at the earliest,” he said.

According to Sharma, he went to TMH on January 12 to visit his niece at the maternity section. “I met resident medical officer Neelanjan Roy two days later. I received a call from the RMO’s office after four or five days, acknowledging the complaint and the measures undertaken to redress the problem. I was told that catchers have been called to drive out the cats from the hospital campus,” he added.

Confirming the presence of cats in the hospital, Partho Bhattacharya, head (administration), of the hospital said they were aware of the problem and appropriate measures have been taken to deal with the same.

He added that the cats have easy access as there are several entry and exit points to the premises. “We have asked our staff to drive away the cats whenever they are spotted inside the hospital,” he said.

Sources in the hospital said the TMH management has plans to find a permanent solution. “Maybe we can fix iron grills on the entry and exit gates. But it is difficult to find a complete solution,” a staffer admitted.