Pune: Nursing and paramedical students of the BJ Government Medical College (BJMC) gathered before the campus amid the heavy rain on Monday evening to protest against alleged harassment by the hostels’ warden and presented their demands for extended curfew timings, additional holidays and other related issues to the dean. The protest was called off after the administration agreed to some of the demands. The Nursing College’s four-year programme has 200 nursing and 90 paramedical students who live across three hostels — one for boys and two for girls.The agitation was launched over grievances regarding the college administration changing hostels’ rules without prior notice to the students and its failure to conduct student council elections on time. There were complaints about mental harassment, caste-based discriminatory remarks and inadequate facilities too.Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad’s Pune city secretary Radhey Bahegavhankar said, “The administration must solve the problems immediately. We have highlighted the issues multiple times, but there has been no action. The campus lacks even basic amenities. The improper treatment meted out to students in a prestigious institute like BJMC is unacceptable. We had submitted our demands to the administration in writing on two previous occasions. We were forced to protest because there was no action taken.”BJMC dean Dr Eknath Pawar said, “The administration has received the memorandum outlining the students’ demands. Currently, we are considering extension of the evening curfew time for the hostel from 7pm to 8.30pm.” He said issues regarding facilities and amenities would also be resolved soon.
