Aurangabad: The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) has lately become a perfect spot for thieves to strike. The patients, who come to the hospital from Aurangabad as well as far off places, have to suffer due to rampant thefts in the hospital premises.If the existing problems related to services in the state-run hospital were not enough, the thefts have added to the misery of the patients. Incidents have been reported, during the night hours, in which the thieves put in rods through the window and lift the objects kept near the patients’. With easy access, the wards on the ground floor in the medicine and surgical buildings are chiefly targeted.When asked, the class IV staff of the hospital say that stealing is a common phenomenon in the hospital. “Thieves eye mobile phones and wallets. We inform the patients and their relatives in advance to keep their belongings and valuables safe,” said a worker.However, not all the patients agree that they are warned about the threat. “I had my kin admitted to the medicine building. However, no one informed us about the possibility of theft. At 5am, the thief opened the window to steal the pair of trousers hanging by the bedside,” said Priyanka Rokade.In critical care units and diagnostic labs where patients and kin are required to take of their slippers, the replacement of footwear is an everyday affair.The Maharashtra Security Force personnel, who are deployed for security in the building, say that they cannot do anything about the incidents. “We are at the entrance gates to ensure that miscreants don’t cause a commotion or engage in violence,” said one of the security personnel.Medical superintendent Kailash Zine said that it is the mentality of people to take the footwear of other people and leave and not much can be done about it. “If cases are reported to us of stealing, we hold a ward-level enquiry. Guarding the windows with rails is not possible as they are meant for ventilation,” said Zine.

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