The faculty members of the Malda Medical College & Hospital (MMCH) are conducting classes for medical students from Friday at the site on the college campus where they are continuing with their protests against the RG Kar doctor’s rapeand murder.

The informal teaching-learning sessions have been named “Abhaya Classes” in honour of the victim, and have been planned to ensure that studies of medical students do not get affected as protests enter their fifth week following the RG Kar brutality on August 9.

“The movement over the RG Kar issue is likely to continue. As MBBS students and junior doctors are protesting and not attending their classes, it is obvious that their studies would get affected,” said a senior doctor.

“We understand their sentiments and have thus decided to teach them at the protest site. Whenever we get time, we conduct informal classes to groups of students,” he added.

Because of the protests, senior doctors, including faculty members, have to work in emergency, indoor wards and outpatient departments.

Akshita Home Roy, a final-year MBBS student who has joined the protests with junior doctors, said: “At a time like this, we do not feel like going to classrooms as we want justice for the victim and her family. We thank our teachers for taking the initiative to conduct classes at the protest site. Such classes are definitely helping us.”

Along with teachers, resident doctors are also teaching the students.

“Earlier, we had organised Abhaya Clinics in different blocks of Malda to help rural patients. Now, classes are another venture that we have taken up. Along with the teachers, we are organising classes for the students so that they do not lag in theirstudies because of protests,” said an intern.

Currently, MMCH has around 625 MBBS students, said sources.