RAWALPINDI, Feb 26: The Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) and autonomous hospitals have asked the Regional Accountability Bureau (RAB) to vacate the hostel building presently accommodating its offices, sources said.

In a letter to RAB, the administration had “requested” the accountability officials to vacate the premises, so that it could be used for the purpose for which it had been constructed.

The building, besides having the RAB offices, also houses accountability courts. However, the sources said there had not been any response from RAB on this issue. The decision to seek back the hostel from RAB was taken at a meeting of the executive committee of autonomous hospitals.

The minutes of the meeting read: “It has been proposed that the hostel occupied by RAB be taken back from them and renovated so that the accommodation problem of the students could be solved.”

RAB had been occupying the building since its inception. The building was lying vacant at that time. The sources said the building had been occupied for a period of three years and RAB had now been there for well beyond the promised period.

The bureau has not been paying any rent to the RMC for the premises either, they added.

Officials of the autonomous hospitals, when asked about the issue, said they had been facing a lot of pressure for accommodating the students. “We have 60 foreign students and 200 postgraduate doctors, who require accommodation,” an official said.