The Shama General Nursing School in Danilimda is one among several educational institutes and health centres run by the Gujarat Sarvajanik Welfare Trust.
A 23-YEAR-OLD student at Shama General Nursing School in Danilimda, Ahmedabad, on Tuesday alleged that he was stopped from taking his third-year (final) practical exam conducted at Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)-run SVP Hospital in Paldi for “keeping a beard.”
Abu Bakr, a student of the GNM (General Nursing and Midwifery) course, alleged that the examination staff at the hospital, which was the examination centre for the practical exam of the final-year GNM students, stopped him from taking his exam at 10 am, pointing out that he had “not shaved his beard.”
Bakr said he then contacted the college authorities and some representatives reached the centre within half an hour and convinced the examiners to allow him to take the exam. “I told them that we are in the health profession and work hard. We do not want to demean any religion or any sentiments, but they only allowed me at 11:30 am after the college authorities intervened,” Bakr, who is from Godhra and has been in Ahmedabad for the past three years for the diploma programme, added.
“The women examiners sitting outside the examination hall stopped me and said I am not eligible to appear for the exam because I have not shaved my beard. They just looked at me and stopped me. When I tried to make them understand that it is because of my religious binding I am not allowed to cut my beard, they did not accept it and said I need to get approval from the Gujarat Nursing Council (GNC),” Abu Bakr told The Indian Express.
The diploma student claimed that he faced a similar incident a year ago at the AMC-run Sheth LG General Hospital in Maninagar. “It was my last exam of the second year at Sheth LG General Hospital where I had to face a similar trauma. That time too my college authorities intervened and I was allowed to sit for the exam,” Bakr said.
GNC president Dr M M Prabhakar told The Indian Express, “There is no such rule or restriction by the Council (GNC)… You can wear a cap, hijab, or keep a beard. We have not issued any circular or order. I am not aware of these incidents but will look into the matter. GNC is the regulatory body that conducts the exams, he added.