Policeman to monitor attendance dental college

PATNA: Ever heard of a policeman monitoring attendance in a college? If not, do visit B R Ambedkar Dental Institute, Patna, and you will get the experience of your life.
A constable, in the presence of a doctor, monitors the attendance register of interns and students. In a state, where a question mark has always been there on the state of education, this may not appear surprising.But, in this case, the practice has started following a Patna High Court order to resume classes in the institute.
No classes were being held in the institute, recognised by the Dental Council of India (DCI), for the last three months, thereby, putting a question mark over the fate of more than 400 students drawn from various parts of the country.
In the absence of the administrative staff, most of whom are not coming to the college after the students lodged a case alleging mismanagement by the college authorities, the police have been deployed on the campus.
No staff, representing the institute’s management, can be seen in the premises. The outdoor patients department (OPD) is totally at the mercy of interns, students and some “visiting� doctors.
The institute’s management and the students locked horns some three months back after the former demanded an additional amount from the students, terming it “dues� to be paid by them. However, the students term it “systematic extortion� by the management, “meant for harassing them�.
Some students, who have been here since 1990 (the duration of the course is that of five years, including one-year compulsory internship), said the “management is using all means to extract as much amount as they can.�
The matter was finally referred to the high court, which ordered immediate resumption of classes.
The students of different batches complain that the management never gave them any marksheet and announced the results only verbally! “Our admit cards are never distributed in time,� said a fourth-year student, on the condition of anonymity.
“What can be a better example of mismanagement and apathy that the students of the 1990 batch — the year of the launch of the institute — are yet to be awarded their degrees,� said another student.
Peeved over the state of affairs, the students of the 1996 batch approached the high court, demanding regularisation of the session, distribution of marksheets and a directive to the management to stop “extortion�.
By the way, what brought the things to such a pass? The institute’s students blame one another. While one group blames the interns for the present chaos, the other group claims that the group has been “hijacked by the management and is being given all facilities�. However, both groups want regular classes and stoppage of undue harassment by the management.
Meanwhile, the state government’s resolve to get the affairs of the institute probed by a panel within 15 days is yet to bear fruits.