The death of a student at an engineering institute in West Bengal, allegedly due to the negligence of the college, has sparked protests on the campus and inspired an online campaign with the hashtag #JusticeForProsenjit.
Prosenjit Sarkar, a fourth-year student at the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, died on Wednesday night after complaining of severe headache. His fellow students allege the authorities failed to provide him proper medical assistance on time and were remiss in not sending an ambulance despite the emergency.
Sarkar had complained of a persistent headache which worsened during an examination on Wednesday. When he approached the medical unit on campus for treatment, the doctor on duty wasn’t present, his fellow students say. After repeated requests, the nurse at the unit gave Sarkar headache pills and administered a few bottles of saline. However, the doctor arrived in the evening – three hours later. Sarkar was then given an injection and asked to return to hostel at 8.30pm.
About 15 minutes later, Sarkar was found unconscious by hostel residents who called up the medical unit seeking an ambulance. When the ambulance failed to arrive even after 40 minutes of waiting, Sarkar was rushed to the unit in a tempo. He died on the way, students say. Still, the doctor on duty said he had a low pulse rate and referred him to the Mission Hospital, 20 minutes away from the campus. At the hospital, he was declared brought dead.
That night, as members of the Gymkhana Association on campus organised a peaceful candlelight vigil, over 150 policemen and riot control personnel landed at the institute, ostensibly to keep the students in check.
Protesting students subsequently sent a petition to Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani, demanding that she look into the matter. “It is shocking how an Institute of national importance fails to provide its students proper medical facilities, as has become evident through this unfortunate event,” the petition says. “It is even more shocking to see that the director, instead of taking necessary actions, is calling the cops while the students are peacefully mourning for the loss of their fellow student.”
On Saturday, Irani assured the students that her ministry will take study the matter. A ministry team is scheduled to reach the campus on Monday for further inquiries. Meanwhile, on Twitter, #JusticeForProsenjit has accumulated thousands of tweets, even trending in parts of West Bengal through the weekend.
Besides an inquiry, NIT students are demanding better medical facilities at the institution and the resignation of the institute director, Prof. Tarkeshwar Kumar. Kumar couldn’t be reached for comment.
To press these demands demonstrations are being organised on the campus and Facebook pages and Twitter handles have been created with appeals to members of the student community to join in.
“There is no response from authorities in this case and even the director hasn’t come out to speak with the crowds,” said Nirjhar Sarkar, a final-year student of mechanical engineering at NIT Durgapur. “The medical unit is just on paper, they are only stocked with general pills for stomach ache and headaches which they give to everyone. Doctors only come for just a few hours every day and there’s no 24 hour facility. The nearest hospital is 20 minutes away but the authorities don’t care.”
Students claim that the university cut off the internet connection on Saturday night after they started speaking up on social media and posted screenshots on the internet using their phones as proof that no site – other than the ones hosted on the campus – could be accessed.
Another student, requesting anonymity, alleged the reason behind such incidents is that “less attention is paid to the… facilities in the NITs as compared to the IITs [Indian Institutes of Technology. We don’t have basic medical or educational infrastructure and even incidents like these fail to make noise in the administration or the ministries. People are dying here but nobody cares.”
Yet another student wrote on his Facebook page:
Here are some pictures revealing the disappointment and anger on the campus.
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Prosenjit Sarkar, a fourth-year student at the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, died on Wednesday night after complaining of severe headache. His fellow students allege the authorities failed to provide him proper medical assistance on time and were remiss in not sending an ambulance despite the emergency.
Sarkar had complained of a persistent headache which worsened during an examination on Wednesday. When he approached the medical unit on campus for treatment, the doctor on duty wasn’t present, his fellow students say. After repeated requests, the nurse at the unit gave Sarkar headache pills and administered a few bottles of saline. However, the doctor arrived in the evening – three hours later. Sarkar was then given an injection and asked to return to hostel at 8.30pm.
About 15 minutes later, Sarkar was found unconscious by hostel residents who called up the medical unit seeking an ambulance. When the ambulance failed to arrive even after 40 minutes of waiting, Sarkar was rushed to the unit in a tempo. He died on the way, students say. Still, the doctor on duty said he had a low pulse rate and referred him to the Mission Hospital, 20 minutes away from the campus. At the hospital, he was declared brought dead.
That night, as members of the Gymkhana Association on campus organised a peaceful candlelight vigil, over 150 policemen and riot control personnel landed at the institute, ostensibly to keep the students in check.
Protesting students subsequently sent a petition to Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani, demanding that she look into the matter. “It is shocking how an Institute of national importance fails to provide its students proper medical facilities, as has become evident through this unfortunate event,” the petition says. “It is even more shocking to see that the director, instead of taking necessary actions, is calling the cops while the students are peacefully mourning for the loss of their fellow student.”
On Saturday, Irani assured the students that her ministry will take study the matter. A ministry team is scheduled to reach the campus on Monday for further inquiries. Meanwhile, on Twitter, #JusticeForProsenjit has accumulated thousands of tweets, even trending in parts of West Bengal through the weekend.
@RIshiNigam1 have asked for an explanation from the concerned authorities.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) November 21, 2015
@imthakurritesh officers from MHRD will be in NIT Durgapur tomorrow.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) November 22, 2015Besides an inquiry, NIT students are demanding better medical facilities at the institution and the resignation of the institute director, Prof. Tarkeshwar Kumar. Kumar couldn’t be reached for comment.
To press these demands demonstrations are being organised on the campus and Facebook pages and Twitter handles have been created with appeals to members of the student community to join in.
“There is no response from authorities in this case and even the director hasn’t come out to speak with the crowds,” said Nirjhar Sarkar, a final-year student of mechanical engineering at NIT Durgapur. “The medical unit is just on paper, they are only stocked with general pills for stomach ache and headaches which they give to everyone. Doctors only come for just a few hours every day and there’s no 24 hour facility. The nearest hospital is 20 minutes away but the authorities don’t care.”
Students claim that the university cut off the internet connection on Saturday night after they started speaking up on social media and posted screenshots on the internet using their phones as proof that no site – other than the ones hosted on the campus – could be accessed.
Another student, requesting anonymity, alleged the reason behind such incidents is that “less attention is paid to the… facilities in the NITs as compared to the IITs [Indian Institutes of Technology. We don’t have basic medical or educational infrastructure and even incidents like these fail to make noise in the administration or the ministries. People are dying here but nobody cares.”
Yet another student wrote on his Facebook page:
“One ambulance to transport them all, One MU to house them, one doctor to cure them all and with a handful of medicines bribe them. When the cure for all injuries and maladies, whether it be stitches, headaches, stomach aches is a tablet of paracetamol and ORS, and when there is just one ambulance for 5k people that apparently runs on petrol costlier than students' lives; this was anything but inevitable.”
Here are some pictures revealing the disappointment and anger on the campus.
