National Shame-Shocking story
Caste bias against students in
Delhi med college
A comprehensive ennquiry by Bhalchandra
Mungekar, Rajya Sabha MP, has found blatant caste-based discrimination against
SC/ST students in Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College affiliated to Guru Gobind
Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.
Mungekar, who was appointed commissioner of
enquiry by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, apart from making
wide-ranging recommendations, has suggested that Rs 10 lakh be paid as
compensation to student Manish and others towards court and other expenses.
“The mental trauma that they were/are made to undergo is not measurable in
terms of money,” Mungekar said in his report.
He also demanded legal action under
Prevention of Atrocities against SCs/STs Act against former principal V K
Sharma, head of physiology department Shobha Das, principal Jayashree
Bhattacharjee and Raj Kapoor, professor of physiology and a liaison officer for
“resorting to caste based discrimination and neglecting the duties assigned to
them, not by omissions, but by commissions”.
The case relates to 35 SC students who
appeared for the first professional examination in July 2010 and failed in the
subject of physiology. Twentyfive of them failed again in the same subject
despite the fact that many passed in other subjects. Mungekar said when
students tried to meet college authorities, they were not entertained and had
to resort to RTI to get information.
It was found that one student’s mark in
physiology was shown lesser in the marksheet than what he had actually got.
But, he said, no action was taken against the head of the department Shobha Das
who said it was a typographical error. Even liaison officer Raj Kapoor refused
to entertain them.
Students who failed in physiology requested
the then principal V K Sharma to allow them to attend classes for the second
year but were refused. The students went to Delhi high court which allowed them
to attend classes but the college took a long time to implement the order. As a
result, most of them did not have requisite attendance. Students again
approached the HC requesting that they be allowed to take supplementary
examination.
Students were not permitted to appear for
the examination to be held in November 2011. Again, Delhi HC intervened and
asked the college to take students who had cleared supplementary in second year
and factor in their attendance. But the college did not relent.
More shocking was the revelation that four
students of general category, detained for inadequate attendance, were allowed
to take the examination.
Source:
The Times of India dt 24-9-12
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