The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Christian Church Medical College in Kolenchery, Kerala got slammed by a student organisation for seeking urine samples of its students to check for drug abuse.
In a circular issued by Dean KK Diwakar, on January 17 said that students would be selected randomly and subjected to urine test. All students were asked to co-operate with these tests.
The notice read, “The kit for urine analysis for substance abuse (drugs) is now available. It has been decided to implement urine analysis for students. The test would be conducted on students randomly selected. The assistant professor of Forensic Medicine is authorised to conduct the test among MBBS students. All students are requested to co-operate for implementing the same.”
Following this, student bodies opposed the decision on social media and other platforms. Kerala Students Union (KSU) president KM Abhijit told news reporters that the decision of the College to impose such demeaning and needless tests on students smacked of a total disregard for the rights of students.
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“There are many other ways to check for substance abuse. You can check rooms, bags etc. Taking urine samples without the consent of the students is definitely not right and we will be pushing for appropriate action against this decision by the college. I had personally spoken to a few students and they said the decision was taken without proper consent of the students. We will speak to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC),” Abhijit said.
The institution in its response said that a written consent letter from students would be obtained before the test.
Commenting on the issue, an SHRC office-bearer said the Commission was aware of the incident. It was perusing television news reports to find out whether there was any legal scope to open an enquiry on its own. A large number of medical students and doctors had protested the move on social media.
