Come election season, the students and staff of the Madurai Medical College are the worried lot. It is the only medical college in Tamil Nadu that becomes a strong room/counting centre.
The other counting centres are either government schools, polytechnic/engineering/arts and science colleges whose students will be on summer vacation during polling.
In a recent submission made by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo at the Madras High Court, the Madurai Medical College that was started in 1954 has served as a counting centre during all the elections for over 25 years since 1998. This year too, the medical college is a counting centre for Madurai Lok Sabha constituency (comprising six Assembly segments).
Unlike in the past, this year, there is a huge gap of 47 days between the date of polling (April 19) and the date of counting (June 4) in Tamil Nadu, during which the counting centre will be under the control of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
While students of other counting centres are away on long summer vacation, medical college students continue to attend regular classes and appear for exams, with only a week-long summer break, amidst an election-related security blanket in place. Consequently, classes, exams, paper evaluation and diagnostic test results are affected, complain students and teaching staff.
As exams are around the corner, it is estimated to impact at least 2,110 medical and paramedical students who will be appearing for theory / practical and supplementary examinations (including 400 students from other colleges) in April and May.
Dr. Kumaran, a professor, said, “Seeking to permanently shift the vote counting centre from Madurai Medical College to some other location, the students and teachers have been repeatedly sending written requests to the election authorities and Madurai Collector since September 2019.”
Click here to access the letter sent by former Dean Dr. K. Vanitha in September 2019
This time, six members of the student council moved the court pleading for relief. During the hearing, the incumbent Collector and District Election Officer M.S. Sangeetha cited the report (dated January 4, 2024) of an inspection held at 12 places in Madurai district (on November 11, 2023) and stated that the Madurai Medical College was the only building in the city that deemed fit as a counting centre.
Dr. Suganthi, a professor at the college, charged: “The election authorities hold a cursory inspection and fix the counting centre based on the list of the previous election’s counting venue, without considering the practical difficulties faced by the host institution. Following the age old practice, the college is picked only due to its proximity to the Collectorate. The district authorities are reluctant to choose any other bigger educational institution nearby. Thousands of students are put to hardship solely for the logistical convenience of the election officials.”
When the old academic block is taken over by the election officials, it mainly affects the academics of first, second and third year MBBS students and paramedical students, added Dr. Kumaran.
Anatomy classes
Dhruv, one of the six student petitioners said the first year students are affected the most. “With the exams held in July or August every year, the teachers struggle to meet the National Medical Commission’s deadline for syllabus completion.
Ashwin, a house surgeon, complained that anatomy dissection could not be taught effectively as the anatomy hall was unavailable during the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019. “As dissection classes are cancelled during the period, the teachers had to rush through the syllabus to make up the lost hours,” he claimed.
Increased student strength
“It is unfair to cripple a fully functional college that has grown over the years. The college now admits 250 MBBS students a year and it becomes almost impossible to conduct classes for them regularly without borrowing space in a fully-packed campus,” Dr. Suganthi explained.
Delayed pathological results
Meera, a final year MBBS student mentioned, “Movement within the campus is restricted. Round the clock security checks cause difficulty in reaching classes on time.” Hampered access to the district’s only government pathology lab in the campus poses a problem in obtaining crucial diagnostic test results, especially those of cancer patients of Government Rajaji Hospital, Dr. Kumaran pointed out.
Damage to properties
Dr. Kumaran stated that the basic structure of the heritage building is altered during every election, due to poll-related semi-permanent structures being raised, thus weakening it. Cracks develop, electricity, water and drainage lines are damaged.
He recalled, “The damage of properties caused during the last election (May 2021), was fixed by the college management as the authorities were unreachable after the end of election process.”
Court order
In its order dated March 22, 2024, the Madras High Court observed that Madurai is not a small city and has various government buildings and institutions. The authorities can certainly consider other venues for use as counting centres, it added.
The CEO Mr. Sahoo was unavailable for comment.
(Names of students and professors have been changed on request)
