New Delhi: It’s been three years since he dropped out of the postgraduate (PG) course in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Since then, Ajay Mandloi has tried hard to put behind him the anxious moments he experienced as the only male student in the course at a state government hospital in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.
But the state bureaucracy refuses to let him forget the past.
Since he walked away from the course, Mandloi has returned to the postgraduate college each year, requesting that it return his original academic certificates submitted at the time of admission. He needs to produce the documents before an interview panel for a government job.
Each time, the college turned down his request.
The reason? It asked him to comply with the conditions of a bond that he signed at the time of admission, under which Mandloi could only get back his papers after paying Rs 30 lakh to the government college.
Last week, the Madhya Pradesh High Court came to his rescue after he went to court early this year. In an interim order, the high court’s Indore bench directed the Directorate of Medical Education to return the papers to Mandloi since he needed them for the interview.
“The harassment I faced as a PG student of obstetrics and gynaecology had dipped my confidence levels and made me a patient of depression. I hesitated to apply for regular private jobs and preferred to take up part-time assignments,” Mandloi told ThePrint.
“After regular treatment and upon regaining my confidence, I applied for a government job and cleared the entrance. Now, I have to appear for an interview for which I need my documents. But my college outrightly refused, saying if I do not pay, I won’t get my papers,” he added.
Mandloi, a resident of Barwani in Madhya Pradesh, comes from a Scheduled Tribe family. His father, a school teacher, is the only earning member in the family and is unable to meet the college’s demands.
Mandloi submitted appeals to the college that he did not leave the course midway for better opportunities, but was forced to withdraw due to the harassment he faced for being the only male postgraduate student in the course.
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Dream gone sour
For Mandloi, securing a postgraduate seat in 2020 was a dream come true, and he was eagerly looking forward to completing his studies.
Since he was one of the few students from his community to get admission in a postgraduate course, the state rewarded him with a laptop at a ceremony marked with fanfare.
“He was an extremely bright student. Seeing his achievements, he was moved to Navodya School. His performance in class tenth and twelfth exams encouraged him to sit for MBBS, which he joined in 2014,” his lawyer, senior advocate Aditya Sanghi, told ThePrint.
Mandloi was one of the high scorers in the Scheduled Tribe category in the MBBS exam, which got him a seat in a state government college in Indore. Upon graduating in 2019, he decided to sit for the NEET-PG course starting in 2020.
Based on his marks, Mandloi was allotted a seat in obstetrics and gynaecology in a state government college in Rewa. “I did not make any choice and simply accepted the course that was offered to me,” he said.
Since he would have been the first in his family to pursue a post-graduate degree in the medical field, Mandloi was excited when he joined Rewa.
However, the events that unfolded derailed his chances of becoming a PG holder.
“I always believed that in today’s modern world, a man joining an obstetrics and gynaecology course would not surprise anyone. But I was wrong,” Mandloi recalled.
“My harassment began from day one. My seniors pursuing other courses started mocking me. I was the only male student who attended practical classes. I was not welcomed by my female colleagues, who always looked at me with suspicion,” he added.
Even the faculty never extended support to him. “No female student was keen to partner with me for the practical training. Patients were hesitant to speak with me about their pregnancy concerns,” he adds.
The harassment pushed him to return home within six months of joining the course. He was, however, convinced by his parents to return. This cycle continued for the next two years until Mandloi completely broke and begged his parents not to force him to go back.
“I suffered from anxiety, and when I disclosed the nature of harassment I underwent within the college premises, my parents asked me not to rejoin, giving me the strength to withdraw from the course in 2022,” Mandloi said.
“I acknowledge that I had signed the bond and that I am bound by the provision that mandates a student to pay in case they do not complete the course. But this condition is for those who use a PG seat to secure better future prospects. For someone like me, completion of the course was my only ambition. It was the circumstances that forced me to drop,” he said.
Advocate Sanghi added that seat-leaving bonds are a contentious issue that has been discussed in Parliament.
In 2024, Madhya Pradesh scrapped the seat-leaving bond policy, becoming the first Indian state to take this step, but it was made operative prospectively.
“States have been told (by the National Medical Commission) to review the bond policy, but Madhya Pradesh continues to follow this unjust, illegal and draconian policy,” he said.
Sanghi told ThePrint that the policy was impacting poor medical students who become victims of ragging and other conditions, such as working hours or an unwelcoming environment.
“This is not the first case where we have approached the court, seeking its intervention in such a case,” Sanghi said.
“The HC has entertained similar petitions in the past as well and issued interim directions in favour of genuine, innocent students who were forced to leave their PG courses due to unfavourable situations prevailing in colleges,” he added.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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