Bangalore, December 19: Tension prevailed at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) campus in Jayanagar here on Wednesday when two students pursuing Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) allegedly attempted suicide by consuming poison on campus. They were among the 150-odd students protesting against the varsity authorities for refusing to give them another shot at clearing their exams.
The two students, Jagadeesh and Ganesh, both second-year students, are being treated at the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital and are said to be out of danger.
The protesters were among the 176 students spread across all four years of the BAMS course who had failed in all four attempts to clear their papers. They were demanding a fifth chance in the supplementary exams that commence on Thursday.
Veeresh, a second-year student, said most of them had failed to clear one subject in the first year. “They announced the decision on Friday and we requested the authorities to give us one more chance. They asked us to get a court order but it is a five-day procedure. With the court being closed over the weekend, we could only approach them on Monday. But, due to the long procedure, there is no way we can get the order before the exam scheduled on Thursday,” he said.
The students cited minutes from a meeting of the Ayurved Committee of the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) in September 2012 which allows BAMS students “three/five attempts” at clearing the exams. “For one subject, so many students’ lives will be ruined. Dean of the Government Ayurvedic Medical College B.A. Venkatesh, said he would look into it, but there has been no response. We even tried approaching the Vice-Chancellor, but he is not willing to meet us,” said Nagaraj, another student.
What the rules say
Vijaykumar Gogi, Director, Karnataka Department of Ayush, said the department could not intervene as it was an “internal matter” of the university.
N.S. Ashok Kumar, Registrar (Evaluation), said CCIM rules as well as the RGUHS ordinance allowed four attempts in all. “Three attempts are allowed for students in all years. But these 176 students gave a letter promising to pass if the VC grants them a fourth attempt, which is allowed under his discretion under rare circumstances. Even this was given. The High Court has also ordered that no such requests can be entertained though a Dharwad court gave an interim order permitting it. Our advocate advised that the High Court order is final,” he said.
Expressing helplessness, the Registrar said the university’s “hands were tied” and only the remaining 1,600 students will be appearing for the supplementary exams from Thursday. This means that the 176 students, irrespective of which year they are in, will have to start afresh i.e., from the first year.
