Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Even as the enquiry is pending, the Goa Medical College hurriedly has decided to rusticate the students who were found in possession of drugs a few days ago.
Goa Medical College (GMC) Dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar today said that he will refer the decision to rusticate students to the government to review.
Five MBBS interns of 2021-22 batch of GMC were rusticated after they were found with drugs.
“Will refer the decision to rusticate students to the government for review. Personally, I feel nobody should object to the decision as it is in the larger interest of the medical fraternity and taken after a lot of deliberation. Such incidents never happened in GMC before,” said Dr Shivanand Bandekar.
He further said that never such an incident has never occurred in the GMC hostel before, and this is the first, and it should continue, and that is how the decision has been made.
“The investigation is currently on, and drugs were found in their hands, which is why we took this decision; the reports of the tests are kept confidential,” he added.
Dr Bandekar said that since GYPC has come up with a memorandum, we will refer the decision to rusticate students to the government to review.
The Goa Youth Congress has demanded revocation of rustication orders of 5 interns of GMC till the Police investigation is complete.
“As you are well aware that the rusticated interns are qualified MBBS Doctors and did services as Covid Warriors in the pandemic to save our Goan brothers and sisters from Covid-19, the unwanted punishment leads to injustice. The whole system is aware that the incident had taken place on 25th May 2022 at boys hostel is of consuming alcohol and not of consuming drugs,” said Youth Congress
Congress said that as per the police investigation, the possession of 7 grams of drugs was found in the common washroom in the boys’ hostel and not from the possession of these interns; the same has been mentioned in the FIR filed at Agasaim Police Station on 27th May 2022.
Goemkarponn spoke to many students in GMC who speaking to Goemkarponn on condition of anonymity said, claimed that it was a knee-jerk reaction GMC Dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar.
“I feel that instead of rusticating a student for his involvement in wrongful activities, the matter should be settled by counselling him. There are other modes of punishment too. Rustication causes unnecessary harassment to the student and his parents as well,” said a student.
Another said the issue can be handled in other ways.
“Rather than rusticating them and ruining their career forever. The action of rustication against a student is a harsh step. Instead of being rusticated and handed over to the police, students need to be counselled instead of being rusticated. This will help students and not ruin their lives forever,” she said.
Another student says the students can be given a warning or fined for wrongdoing.
“The students should be given a warning and let off on the promise that such behaviour will not be repeated. “Parents can be called and informed about their child âs misdeeds, or a student can be expelled for 15 days to 20 days from the college. Actions, such as rustication, taken against a child may turn him into a criminal,” he said.
“Instead of rusticating a student to teach him a lesson, the college’s aim should be to punish and reform. Parents can be called and informed about their children, and maybe they can be suspended from attending college for a month,” said the students.
