Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 8

The Principal of Government Medical College (GMC), Patiala, has suspended over 350 final year MBBS students for “not attending” a meeting called to discuss safety measures to check the spread of Covid.

Gross indiscipline

Not attending an important meeting, called to discuss Covid-safety protocol, amounts to indiscipline. The students will remain suspended till further notice. - Dr Rajan Singla, GMC (Patiala) Principal

The meeting was scheduled at 4 pm on Monday, but only a few students turned up, which reportedly angered the Principal, Dr Rajan Singla.

The suspension order mentions that “only 17 of the 225 2016 batch students and 66 of the 225 from the 2017 batch attended the meeting”.

Citing an example of a college where 80 MBBS students had tested positive, the Principal said he wanted to avoid such a situation.

Asked how safe was it to call over 200 students for a meeting in an indoor auditorium, he said, “The venue can accommodate 600 persons and minimum distancing could have been easily maintained.”

The students, meanwhile, have termed the punishment “harsh” saying their studies would get affected. “Moreover, how safe is it to assemble 220 students in a closed place amid the pandemic when several of our classmates have already tested positive,” asked a student.

Another student said their exams were approaching and every class, particularly practical ones, was crucial.