Soon, AIIMS doctors may get to relax in a club with rooftop restaurant

All work and no play makes Dr Jack a dull boy. So the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has decided that the good doctor must play, eat well and relax. And, occasionally, watch a film or two.

Work will soon begin on a project proposed by the Faculty Association of AIIMS (FAIIMS) that the FAIIMS Club, set up some 50 years ago, be turned into a recreational centre.

The club, which till now was used as a guest house by the faculty of AIIMS, will have a rooftop restaurant, a lounge, a reading room, a room for watching films and facilities for indoor games such as table-tennis and billiards.

"A team of engineers has conducted a survey of the building, and work is expected to start soon," a hospital administration official said.

Located on the Ansari Nagar (East) residential campus of the country's premier hospital, the club was recently allotted a new floor by its administration, doubling its area to 6,000 square feet.

"It is important that doctors too take a break from their strenuous jobs after work. So it was essential that we revived this club," a senior faculty member said.

In 1968, the club was allotted a four-bedroom flat as a recreation centre to help doctors unwind after a hard day's work.

"But gradually the objective behind the club was lost because of the busy schedules of the doctors. It finally became a facility to provide accommodation to our guests," the member said.

Though AIIMS has a spacious guest house, doctors could book a room in the club for Rs 500 a day for their guests. The place was also used to accommodate outsiders attending conferences in AIIMS.

According to another faculty member, two rooms on the ground floor of the club will continue to serve as guest rooms.

The other rooms, and the new floor, will be used for the new facilities.