Earlier this week, three Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Indore students were expelled from the institution for allegedly consuming marijuana in a hostel room of the campus.
The decision, taken on the recommendation of the disciplinary committee, has put the students’ careers at stake. Could less strict measures have tackled the problem?
The matter, though, may not be that simple but Delhi based students and teachers believe that the decision has been taken in haste and an unwanted step has been taken towards students who made rigorous efforts to make it to one of the country’s topmost institutions.
“Expelling students for taking marijuana is a stern step taken by authorities. Taking marijuana might not be common but yes, students do consume drugs in their hostel rooms,” says Jitendra, an undergraduate student at School of Languages (Japanese) at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
He says, “Students take it cleverly without being noticed and if somebody comes to know about it, then too there is no stigma because everyone in the campus is aware of it.”
Seconding the opinion, a student of Delhi University who prefers anonymity says,
“Marijuana is quite common in DU. There are specific points where students meet to consume marijuana. Be it a hostel or a public place, marijuana is taken by students. Students generally smoke grass near the Vivekananda statue in Arts Faculty.
“In the IIM case, if students have been caught red-handed, then the authorities should have given a stern punishment but not expelled them because expulsion is not the only solution.”
The is not the first time that an incident of this nature has been reported in IIM-Indore. In February this year, two students were caught smoking marijuana. At that time they were reprimanded and let off. By expelling the students this time, question marks have been raised over the institution for not being able to tackle the problem effectively.
Supporting the students’ view is Prof. Rajan Kumar, School of International Relations,
JNU: “Expulsion of students should not be a deterrent measure to handle drugs related issues. They deserve a second chance to correct their mistakes. Above all, they are bright students. Such punishment should be decided only after considering the kind of narcotics consumed by students; have they taken it alone or in a group and in what quantities?
When questioned about JNU’s stance towards marijuana taken by students, Rajan says, “I won’t say that it is common in campus but students generally take it.”
