Medical college punishes 250 students for going on Diwali break a week before it officially began

Cracking the whip on mass bunking by students, authorities at SN Medical College in Jodhpur have taken strict action against 250 of them in the first-year MBBS programme who went on Diwali leave a week before it officially began.

Stating that what the students had done amounted not only to gross disrespect of the college administration but also of the sanctity and ethos of the medical profession, the authorities have suspended their classes and asked them to bring their parents with an affidavit tendering an apology and assuring that they would not repeat such an action in the future.

Academic in-charge (UG) Afzal Hakim said that the parents of 22 students appeared before the principal on Tuesday with the affidavit.

“But, surprisingly, instead of admitting that their wards were at fault, they pleaded with us to forgive them, terming the mistake a petty one,” said Hakim.

He said that mass bunking had become routine at the college and was a phenomenon which had grown in the past four years.

“Previously, students were let off with just a warning. But, this time, we decided to end this and, therefore, suspended the classes until the students came accompanied by their parents and submitted the affidavit,” he said.

He said that whereas the Diwali vacations were scheduled to begin from 8 November, as many as 250 students of the 2015 MBBS batch had gone on leave from 31 October without informing the college administration.

He added that the college administration had got whiff of the plan by these students to take off before the official beginning of the Diwali break and had warned them against any such step.

“Not only this, but e-mails sent by us on November 2 to these students asking them to join classes immediately went unheeded. That was gross disrespect of not only our orders but also the sanctity of the profession,” said college principal AL Bhat.

With the affidavit submitted by the parents, the students will be responsible for their short-attendance and the administration will be authorised to take any disciplinary action against them, he said.