Ragging incident blown out of proportion: GMC students

HYDERABAD: Students of Gandhi Medical College (GMC) expressed shock over 10 MBBS students being suspended in connection with a ragging incident and said that the action has changed the atmosphere in the college, despite details of the case not being publicised.

Medical aspirants said that interactions between senior and junior students were an indispensable part of academic life, especially in medical fields, due to a need for collaboration and experience sharing.

Senior students said that the incident took place around two weeks ago at the boys’ hostel on the college campus. They speculated it could be a late-hour interaction between seniors and juniors, which was a common sight.

“Boy students from senior batches were interacting with freshers who joined just about two weeks ago. However, it seems some newcomers were upset and filed a complaint with the UGC, escalating the issue. It is surprising, as we have never heard of any serious ragging issues at the college,” a senior MBBS student said, not wishing to be named.

Sources said that the suspended students were also expelled from the hostel overnight, posing a challenge for their accommodation, as most of them were non-locals.

Another MBBS student said that she did not support ragging in any form, but said that the step taken by the college administration was extreme as it would severely affect their careers. “MBBS is already a long-duration course and this would demotivate them from continuing their studies further,” she said.

Resident doctors on the campus, who are GMC graduates, said they never faced such an incident during their graduation or post-graduation days, and seniors always supported juniors with academics.

“Senior-junior bond is very important to sail through the long journey of MBBS. It is seniors who are always there to support us. I think this incident will affect the otherwise friendly environment and create a barrier between senior and junior students, as they will now hesitate or keep away from juniors, which is not healthy,” a PG student said.

Some first-year students agreed that it was important to have a friendly environment and supportive seniors.

“Our experience so far has been good. I think we need the seniors to make us get accustomed to college and studies. We spend most of our time on campus, so interaction with seniors is a must,” a first-year student said.