Chandigarh: 36 PGIMER students grounded for not attending PM’s Mann Ki Baat

The PGIMER students – 28 from third year and eight from first year – have been barred from stepping outside the hostel for a week

As many as 36 boarding students of National Institute of Nursing Education (NINE) at PGIMER have been grounded for disobeying orders to attend the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme on April 30.

A staff member at the hostel, requesting anonymity, said orders were issued from the PGIMER director’s office to send nursing students to attend the programme in LT1 theatre at 10.30 am on April 30. (HT File Photo)

The students – 28 from third year and eight from first year – have been barred from stepping outside the hostel for a week.

A staff member at the hostel, requesting anonymity, said orders were issued from the PGIMER director’s office to send nursing students to attend the programme in LT1 theatre at 10.30 am on April 30. But 36 girl students remained absent.

Subsequently, the warden filed a complaint on May 3, stating that the message was conveyed by her and the hostel coordinator that it was compulsory for first- and third-year students to attend the 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat.

The warden added that during the preceding night and morning rounds, she repeatedly asked the students to attend the programme, but they didn’t pay heed.

Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, the deputy director administration at PGIMER, said they had sought a response from the principal.

When contacted, NINE principal Dr Sukhpal Kaur said, “I am accountable for all these students and it is necessary to reprimand them if they fail to comply. These types of lectures are conducted regularly.”

Accusing the Modi government of misusing its power to impose the Prime Minister’s programme on the public, Manoj Lubana, state president of the Chandigarh Youth Congress, said the government action was dictatorial and forced.