Introduction

There was a time when students attempted suicides for reasons like depression, anxiety or peer pressure but today, they use them to fight the government or to take their stand. The suicide threat by a blind student Suresh from Karnataka had surprised the MCI and goaded them to reconsider his case. The Medical Council of India canceled the admission of a 19-year-old Suresh, with visual impairment of high degree as the case was against their norms. Visual impairment of this level for a medical graduate could result in the horrendous coda of the Nation.

Take A Stand: Suresh Or MCI?

Suresh, a 19-year-old medical student from Karnataka studying medicine in Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), got his medical seat canceled due to his vision which didn’t allow him to see beyond 8 cm. Despite visual disability of 70%, Suresh secured 86% in his Class 12 board examinations and secured a decent rank in the Karnataka Common Entrance test, 2016.

According to the 2009 regulation, the students with over 70% disability are ineligible for medical admissions in India.

“Notice To Death”

On August 28, Suresh wrote a five-page letter and a separate two-page suicide note with a headline “Notice of Death” and sent it to the MCI. In the letter, he wrote about his struggles of getting the medical seat and why he wanted to become a doctor. It further included that he paid his first-year fees by selling his ancestral property which coincided with his parent’s death. In 2016, the Karnataka Examination Authority officials allotted Suresh a seat under disability quota and he joined the college in July’ 16.

Whose Fault?

The 19-year-old has shown extraordinary perseverance to get into a medical college despite his disability. But after a year, his seat is canceled by MCI stating his disability is extreme and not suitable for medical procedures after 5 years. It is easy to note that Karnataka Examination Authority allotted him the seat in July 2016 but his seat was reconsidered and got canceled. Did the cancellation of his seat after a year break him to write the suicide letter to the MCI?

Conclusion

The MCI has made unearthly decisions to maintain the standards of a medicine graduate in India recently but the case of Suresh is also not his fault. But the ultimate question is, was writing the ‘Notice of Death’ to the MCI the only choice to fight the Government? And did Suresh demolish his possible other ways by taking this wrong step? One can take any road but “suicide” always leads to death either of the victim or his fragile possibilities.