Hostels

Hostel is s home away from home. Life here is quite different. One gets to meet people of varied nature and a feeling of friendship and oneness prevails all over. When GMC was started, the initial batches students from various regions of South India. Accommodating them, when the college was in its infancy, was a big problem. With great difficulty a small building was allotted to the Men Students in March 1947. Soon it was shifted into a bigger rented building at Brodipet. Afterwards another building was rented in Chandramouli Nagar to accommodate the students of new batches. Conveyance was a problem with hostels away from the college. Some of the students have to stay in rented rooms and depend on hostels outside for food. 26th Nov 1955 saw the laying of the foundation stone for the Men’s Students Hostel. The Hostel was to be built 1 ½ miles away from the college on the Amaravathi Road. Finally in Aug 1958 it was ceremonially opened by Hon’ble Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. It had a capacity to accommodate 150 students. In 1964 an additional block was added and is presently called New Block. The Hostels are located on a campus whose area is bigger than that of college. After the building of additional block the playground was improvised and annual sports meets were regularly held there. A good reading room was added and recreational facilities were improved. In Nov 1964 the All India Congress Committee National Session was held in Guntur and most of the delegates are hosted in the hostel. This helped the hostel acquire a telephone connection and fans were provided for all rooms. Conveyance to the college was still a problem, until 3 buses were sanctioned in the year 1965. Transport became easier and special trips such as regular library trip, Cinema trip etc., were organized. Hostel Day Celebrations used to be held regularly and Guest dinners etc., were also hosted. To be invited as a guest was a matter of great privilege in those days.

At Present 182 students stay in the hostel, which has 148 rooms. A well maintained reading room and gymnasium are regularly used by the students. A new colour television, the Carroms and Table tennis boards are a source of recreation. The shuttle badminton court and volleyball court were recently given a face life.

The Hostel water supply is from a bore well in the campus. Since 1994 the municipal supply was restored. Four candle water filters have been provided for drinking water. The mess has been a bit unsettled. 1986 saw the closure of the old student hostel mess. At present only one mess is being maintained by a private contractor. The habit of carrying food in the afternoon to the college for the students had been abandoned from 1993 and two bus trips have been arranged.

On 3rd Dec 1996 the 38th hostel day celebrations were held.

Provision of a study room, a health center, water coolers, regular library trips, a cycle shed, upgrading the basket ball court and the play ground for the athletics, renovation of bathrooms and drainage facilities need to be looked after.

There is a Chief Associate Warden. Many wardens bestowed their parental care towards students and upgraded the hostel to the present level.

The Hostel has been the residence of innumerable doctors during their study in GMC and continues to be so for the years to come.
 
 

When GMC came into existence in 1946, the college itself had to depend on the Andhra Christian College for teaching purposes. Provision of hostel accommodation at that time was a big problem. On repeated representations made by anxious parents, the District Medical Officer Dr. R.Venkata Rao provided the accommodation for the girl students in his own quarters.

Shortly the Govt. shifted it to a rented house in Brodiepet. The first warden was Dr.K.Rajyalakshmi and she used to reside in a house near the Hostel. As time passed the number of girl students increased and for solving the problem, a large plot about 3 furlongs away from the college was selected. This plot was prior occupied by the Sunandamma Missionary. Finally in 1955 the then Hon’ble Minister for Planning and Public Health opened the Women students hostel. At present it is called the old block. A residential quarters for the warden and a building for the “Mess” were constructed. The hostel could accommodate 48 students and has 25 residing rooms.

In 1956 the first floor of the old block was constructed thus providing more accommodation. The rooms were improved and additional facilities were provided. In 1964 another wing was added to the hostel adding 48 more rooms. A corridor connecting the first floors of the wings was constructed and a telephone connection provided.

In 1964 when the National Session of All India Congress Committee was held at Guntur some of the delegates were lodged in the Hostel. The Govt. provided ceiling fans to all the rooms on the occasion. The Mess was also shifted to cooking with gas.

Since then the Women Students Hostel has improved slowly to its present form. At present when the college admits 150 students per year and more than half of them being girls, the hostel still has problems regarding accommodation.

At present there are 180 students residing in the 136 rooms of the hostel. The hostel has a television, Caroms board, and table tennis board for recreation. A play ground with the tennicoit, shuttle courts is also available. There is a warden for hostel. In Yester years Hostel days used to be held regularly but not so at present.

Deficiencies like water shortage are still present. Yet in all fairness it must be stated that this GMC Women Students Hostel continues to provide the necessary homely atmosphere for it’s inmates.