At Least 40 Students Suspended: Is ‘Threat Culture’ Plaguing Med Colleges In Bengal?

Kolkata: At least forty students of state-run College of Medicine and JNM Hospital in West Bengal’s Kalyani town were reportedly suspended after allegations of threatening fellow students and exam-related malpractices were levelled against them.

The students have been barred from the hostel, hospital, and college campus for at least six months, reported the Indian Express. The college has also initiated further investigations into the matter. However, these students will be allowed to appear for their examinations.

Reports stated that they had also been indefinitely banned from contesting student body polls.
They will face an inquiry by the Anti-Ragging Committee, Internal Complaint Committee, or a special inquiry committee. Copies of some documents against the accused would be handed over to the police, reports claimed.

These decisions were made on Thursday by the Extended College Council. The Council also reportedly dissolved the Students’ Welfare Committee. It was reported that police picketing and patrolling would be arranged on the hostel premises until the normalcy returns to the campus.

There are allegations that the accused had forcefully collected money from some students. Reports claimed that the Council had asked the accused to return the money to the students within seven days from Thursday, failing which they would face action.

The council had also received complaints about “illegal occupants” in the boy’s hostel. These occupants were allegedly “part of the threat syndicate”. “(Those suspended) include students, former students, (interns) and PGTs. They have been asked to vacate the hostel by 8 pm tonight (September 19) without fail,” the minutes released by the Council read.

These developments come at a time when junior doctors in the state—who were protesting against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata—have been alleging of a prevalent ‘threat culture’ in medical colleges across Bengal. Among several other demands—most of which were accepted by the Bengal government—the junior doctors had also put pressure on the Mamata Banerjee-led government to end the ‘threat culture.’