The Hindu : AIIMS students to boycott classes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 19, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

AIIMS students to boycott classes

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. Undergraduate medical students of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here will boycott classes for a day on Thursday to protest against the rustication of six students by the authorities on Tuesday for vandalising the Director's office. The students were protesting against the Institute's rule making 75 per cent attendance mandatory.

After a general body meeting, the students at the Institute said they "believed that things could be sorted out amicably and that the Institute would revoke the rustication orders''.

"We hope that the AIIMS Director, P. Venugopal, would hear us out and revoke the order. We maintain that we did not resort to any violence and that the students are being framed. The students here know their responsibility and believe in peaceful protest. The students will continue to wear black bands as a mark of protest,'' said the AIIMS Students' Union president, Kumar Vivek. Also, the students claimed that they would speak only to the Director or Dean of the Institute and not to the administration about their "current problem''.

Extending its support to the students at AIIMS, the Society of Young Scientists at AIIMS said in a statement: "We strongly condemn the harsh steps taken by our administration to rusticate six of our undergraduate students. We are totally against the mindless devastation of the democratic milieu in the Institute and absolute disregard for rules and regulations. We recognise the urgency of the situation and are with the students and extend our support for the cause.''

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