Second professional MBBS theory examination
The expenses for the digital monitoring and frisking system will be borne by the university,” a senior health department official said. An official said the contract for the previous agency, which executed the digital monitoring system, had expired and the process of hiring a new one had not yet been completed. Utpal Bandyopadhyay, general secretary of the association, said, “The office of the controller of examinations, WBUHS, has said measures for digital surveillance and frisking will be put in place from Thursday.
The violation of the university’s SOP drew criticism from medical students and professors, who expressed fear of the exam system going back to the pre-RG Kar movement era. “The decision was taken following health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee’s instruction. The Association of Health Service Doctors (AHSD) also wrote to the health minister and senior state health officials, including the university’s VC. We welcome this step.“ In the wake of the RG Kar movement two years ago, a state-level grievance cell was formed to look into the concerns flagged by the medical fraternity. WBUHS, the affiliating body of all medical, nursing and paramedical colleges in Bengal, formed a six-member committee to review the medical exam system. To ensure transparency, the university had drafted an SOP for state-run medical colleges.
Kolkata: No frisking, no central CCTV surveillance: The second professional MBBS theory examination, which started on Wednesday at medical colleges across Bengal, showed up pre-RG Kar faults despite the SOP issued by West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS).
The lack of proper surveillance made room for irregularities, like it used to happen earlier,” said a student at a medical college in the city. The principal of another medical college told TOI : “There was no frisking or central surveillance. “While entering the exam hall, we were asked to switch off our mobiles. We were supposed to be frisked before being allowed to enter the hall but there was none to carry it out. The three-hour exam was conducted without a central CCTV monitoring, which upset me. If the exams are held this way, transparency and credibility of the system may be compromised. Pointing out that the non-implementation of central CCTV monitoring, vigilance and frisking would impede transparency, medical students as well as professors sought immediate govt intervention to ensure the SOP was complied with during the exams. It was only after the medical fraternity raised the issue that the state health department and WBUHS instructed colleges to arrange for four men and four women who would check candidates with hand-held metal detectors at exam centres from Thursday.
Medical institutes will also have to earmark a separate enclosure, where girls can be frisked, ensure question papers are delivered under CCTV surveillance and that cameras are installed in exam halls.