Shimla: In fear of their seniors, the new batch of 65 MBBS students at Indira Gandhi Medical College abstained from entering the college premises for the past week and absented themselves from regular classes allegedly because of a threat issued out to them to keep away from the campus.
Sources revealed that trouble between the senior batch and the newcomers started before Diwali festivities.
A diktat was issued that no one from the first year batch should be visible in the college campus till October 26, which was being obeyed by the ‘Jangu’s’, a term used for the freshers at the medical college.
The new batch, consisting of 40 girls and 25 boys was admitted only in August.
Surender Kashyap, the college principal, ruled out ragging or intimidation. “It not a case of ragging,†he said. In fact this year there has not even been a single complaint about ragging reported by the juniors, he added.
The students have resorted to mass casual leave and we have taken action against it, said Kashyap. Not only have they been marked absent but the curriculum for the week will not be repeated,†he added.
Some of the new students did report for their classes today and we have written to the parents about the need for discipline as well as sought an explanation, why the students were not attending classes, said the principal.
A senior medico, on conditions of anonymity said that it being the festive week of Diwali, the students only decided to take a longer holiday then what the academic calendar permitted.
Not all agreed, as a girl student from the new batch disclosed that the extended holiday was enforced by the seniors even though some of them were keen to attend classes.
The principal adds that in the previous week besides Diwali, a Sunday, there was the Bhaiyaduj festival that spilled over the long weekend.
Among the newcomers as there are more girls than boys, many of them are said to have left for their homes because it was the first such break after they joined the college, he said.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
