Two students attempted suicide by ingesting a liquid toilet cleaner on Wednesday, protesting against the authorities of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in front of the university campus in Jayanagar.
They were identified as Jagadeesh and Ganesh, second-year students pursuing a Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course at a private college in North Karnataka. They were rushed to the nearby Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for medical treatment. Hospital sources said the two students were stable and out of danger.
Nearly 150 students gathered in front of the university campus demanding that they be allowed to write a particular examination scheduled for Thursday. One of the students said the university had barred them from taking the second annual examination for not being able to pass in a particular subject in the first year. He said the university authorities were asking them to bring a court order, which they said was impossible because there was only a day left for the examination.
However, Prof N S Ashok Kumar, Registrar (Evaluation), RGUHS, told Deccan Herald that the guidelines of the Central Council for Indian Medicine, the board overseeing education in alternative streams of medicine, stipulated that a student can be allowed only three attempts to pass a particular subject. He said the fourth attempt could be exercised if the vice chancellor allowed it.
He said the protesting students were those who had either completed their third or even fourth attempt. “The university can consider the cases of those with three attempts. However, our hands are tied in the cases of students who have completed four attempts. The Karnataka High Court has passed a judgement on Tuesday in a case where a group of students had appealed to the high court. It has said the university should not deviate from the guidelines of the Central Council for Indian Medicine." he said.
He said the students should instead approach the Central Council for Indian Medicine for remedial measures.