Manav Rachna Dental College (MRDC), affiliated to the Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) is set to conduct offline examinations in the month of August.
According to a change.org petition, that had been signed 884 times at the time of writing, students pursuing Bachelors in Dental Sciences (BDS) would have to report to the college on August 11 for their examinations.
The college is located in Faridabad, Haryana. The district itself was a red zone while certain buildings in the college campus had previously been deployed as a quarantine center.
According to covidindia.org, as of July 20th, Faridabad had the second-highest number of Covid-19 positive cases in Haryana, next only to Gurugram. With over 6,400 cases and over 103 containment zones, it can be easily concluded that the city has been badly affected by the virus.
A catch-22 situation lies ahead of the students of MRDC - whether to risk their health and that of their family by travelling to and living in a city with rampant Covid-19 cases or to give supplementary exams later, which would be recorded on their marksheet as repeating an exam after failing.
Students fear that even with checks and balances like temperature scans are practised, asymptomatic students and those who take paracetamols to go undetected through temperature checks, would still filter through and endanger everyone else.
The fear of contracting Covid-19 is not the only problem students have. There are other less obvious but equally relevant problems like the cost of inter-state travel, living arrangements to be made if a family member were to accompany them, not having access to their books and notes that they left behind when they hurriedly vacated their hostels due to the pandemic, along with other familial responsibilities that have popped up during these testing times.
“I have spent the last seven days with my sister, who has been critically ill in a hospital. I just got back from there and now I have this added pressure of exams and how to study for them” says Madhumitha (name changed), a third-year student from the college.
Students say they have written “over a hundred emails” to the PMO, the HRD ministry, the Chief Minister’s office, but claim to have found no political support anywhere. “Almost 500-700 students are against these examinations. They need to question why we are against them?,” asks Madhumitha.
Tanmay (name changed) is a final year student at MRDC who is worried about living in a shared space like the hostel during the span of the exams. “I do not have any other option. My flat is in a containment zone in Faridabad. Our principal said that those who live outside, in PG or flats, can live in the college hostel. I have booked the hostel and even though it is dangerous, I have to go,”
Upon being asked why he chose to give the exams when the option of giving supplementary papers is available, he chuckles and says, "Of course, I can give them later but I do not want it printed on my degree that I failed in my exams, I hope you understand.” In order to prepare for the upcoming exams, Tanmay recently travelled from Punjab to Haryana to collect books that he left behind in Faridabad when he hurriedly vacated his flat.
The MRDC administration maintains that the decision to conduct examinations was unilaterally made by the governing university - PGIMS.
“If they (PGIMS) take out a datesheet, we (MRDC) have to comply. It is a government university run by the government of Haryana. But we have written to them (on this matter),” said a high-ranking administrative official from the college who chose to be anonymous.
“We ourselves are not very happy with this, let me be honest. Our college is shut, the university is shut. It is going to be difficult for us to manage as well. But it is entirely up to the university to decide whether the exams happen or not,” he added.
While the administration claims to be helpless in this situation and political leaders remain unresponsive - a difficult choice lies ahead of the students of MRDC.