AP medical colleges \'free\' from ragging menace, only stray cases

VIJAYAWADA: Except for stray cases, the medical colleges working under both government and private management in Andhra Pradesh are relatively free from ragging, officials and the management have asserted on Tuesday.

“Some 11 government and over 20 private medical colleges exist in the state. The authorities claim they have made fool-proof arrangements by setting up anti-ragging committees and vigilance committees. Senior faculty members keep a check on the departments and hostels for both boys and girls while closed-circuit cameras are functional at vulnerable locations. There is zero tolerance to such unlawful practices,” officials said.

Guntur medical college principal Padmavathi Devi said, “Except for the minor case of a first-year MBBS student who lodged a ragging complaint online to the anti-ragging helpline of the National Medical Commission in March 2022, we are not aware of any such incident so far.”

“Even DISHA complaint boxes are set up in the college and hostel and I myself inspect hostels to ensure no student is subjected to ragging. Moreover, we are conducting extra-curricular activities by organizing sports and games tournaments. The students are interacting with each other and we are maintaining a very cordial atmosphere on the entire campus.”

Senior medicos complain about their juniors. “Some of them wear torn jeans, ignoring the dress code of wearing formal dress with a white apron. Some wear boxers when they arrive at the mess for food.”

They also say some students, especially from wealthy backgrounds, get their attendants to carry their bags up to the classroom. Their arrogance is evident in their body language.”

The senior medicos are also complaining about the juniors that they demonstrated a “lack of respect towards the senior faculty members and even to their seniors.”

AP junior doctors association president Dr J. Jeshwanth said, “The interaction between the juniors and seniors is very essential for the reason that the seniors will help their juniors, especially in academics, like what books to read on various subjects to get good scores in final exams etc and also which courses help one get good employment etc.”

“Moreover, both seniors and juniors should continuously discuss cases, the nature of treatment and the surgeries to be done to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Without this, there is no chance for them to flourish in their academics.”

Meanwhile, the state health authorities maintain that they have set up committees to keep a close vigil against ragging in all the medical colleges.

The Ranga Raya Medical College principal Dr D Narasimham said, “No major issues of ragging were reported in our college except for stray cases and we have a system to show zero tolerance to ragging. In the current academic year, the first-year students arrived in November while their seniors appeared for the final exams in December and January, giving no time for the seniors to cause any trouble to the juniors, as they were preoccupied with the preparations.”