VIJAYAWADA: NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) is refusing to permit 100 medical students of Fathima Institute of Medical Sciences (FIMS) in Kadapa to take annual exam on the grounds that the college made the admissions against the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms. Students along with their parents staged a protest in the city on Thursday.
The students and their parents came to Vijayawada to meet Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas to explain to them their plight.
The students secured admission for the 2015-16 batch in September as part of the third and final counselling.
The college did not have permission either from the MCI or the High Court during the first and second counselling. For the third counselling, the college secured interim orders from the High Court.
As a result, the college management went ahead with counselling process and admitted the students under category A and B along with the NRI quota. The MCI, which did not give clearance, cancelled the admissions later.
This left the students high and dry. The admission scam at FIMS came to the fore after the High Court dismissed the case on April 23 this year. Later, the Supreme Court too upheld the HC decision.
“The college management is wholly responsible for the ongoing chaos. At the time of counselling, the NTRUHS has approved our admissions and now the same university cancelled our admissions. Post High Court orders, the college management has refused to refund our fees. It kept us in the dark. In the name of signing anti-ragging forms, the college management obtained our signatures on blank papers,” said P Imran, a student.
In case of Abhinav of Nellore, his parents had sold their agriculture lands to pay his fees. The college management has charged a fee of `30 lakh for admission, but did not issue any receipt for the amount collected.
Students say that the college management has collected anything from `30 lakh to `75 lakh at the time of admissions. The students were permitted to attend classes only after payment of the total fees at once.
Giving a sympathetic ear to their plight, the Chief Minister promised to admit the students in other colleges and asked the officials of the department concerned to speed up the process.
The Vice-Chancellor of NTRUHS is holding talks with the college management and the MCI officials over the issue, he added.
The student organisations are holding a series of protests and rallies in Kadapa, condemning the college management’s indifferent attitude.
Various student organisations have demanded the arrest of the principal and action against the college management and justice for medical students.