Medicos stage stir, demand reforms

CHENNAI: A day after the revised exam results for the first year medical students were published, members of the Tamil Nadu Medical Students’ Association staged a protest in the city for “future” reforms in the TN Dr MGR Medical University’s exam evaluation system. Though they termed the 81.5 per cent pass result “satisfactory”, a student representative said they would withdraw their stir only if there was strict adherence to the marking system laid down by the Medical Council of India (MCI). Alluding to the five grace marks given to the students to help them pass this time, the student representative argued that there was no guarantee on how the MCI approved rule would be implemented.They also demanded that the attendance requirements be brought down from the existing 90 per cent to an MCI recommended 75 per cent. “We don’t want the V-C to pursue the matter in the SC as this will affect the students,” added another representative. A relaxation of the break system for the first years was also sought.