Karnataka: CCTV installations elicit mixed reactions from medicoes

Bangalore: The Medical Council of India's recently decided to install CCTV cameras both in class rooms and teaching hospitals from the next academic year, as an integral part of the "Digital Mission Mode Project"(DMMP) is to ensure quality education and patient care, as well. Both classrooms and hospitals will be under surveillance 24/7.

The Installations have called for mixed reactions from the student community. While those studying in Government Medical Colleges have welcomed it, students at private institutions don't quite feel the need for them.

"It was needed for a long time. We had the faculty leaving campus to attend to their clinics and ignoring things needed. Studying in a government college is not easy and things only get worse. They have learnt how to circumvent the biometric system. I hope CCTVs will instilled some fear in the faculty and the unruly students. I am sure this will help increase the productivity of government institutions," a government medical college student told Bangalore Mirror.

Looking at the security angle of these camera installation a final year student of a Government Medical College said, "In my college, I don't feel we have faculty problems. We have faculty teaching us in a more clinical way rather than just theory and there is no problem. But CCTVs will be a boon for all students who want to stay late and study in the college library. I am sure in the present times, this will help students feel a lot safer. There are so many students who want to stay up late in the library to study but lack of security deters them,"

Students of private medical institutions however, begged to differ on these CCTV installations as they felt, things in their colleges were pretty much organized both in terms of faculty attendance and student security.

"We are divided into small batches of 10-12 students and there is a teacher for every unit. There is a routine in our way of handling academic affairs and there is never a need for CCTV to police our faculty. There has not been a day that our teachers would be absent or even if they would, there would be a junior substitute handling matters. Every morning, we know where we are headed and what to do. We have never been left directionless by our faculty," said a final-year MBBS student.

Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Dr KS Ravindranath welcoming the move said, "Not all colleges, but very few colleges face the problem of staff coming only during inspection. This is to ensure they are physically present in college. It will help monitoring of regular faculty attendance. This will help improve the quality of education," he said. Calling the CCTV installations within the ambit of rules, he said there is no objection from any quarter.

"Not every college faces the problem of absence of staff. Some colleges have the problem and CCTV installation is being introduced according to rules so there is no question of objection. If the faculty follow the rules and are steadfast in their duty, this is a perfectly normal move. Everyone has welcomed it positively," he further added, speaking to Bangalore Mirror.

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