CHENNAI: Remember the sequence in Kamal Hassan’s famous Vasool Raja MBBS when the lead character, a local rowdy element, makes his aides and friends pose as patients, nurses and doctors? It is almost exactly the same narration that former students of SVS Naturopathy and Yoga Science College in Villupuram, which is in the news after the mysterious death of the three girl students, recount.
In the film, the drama was to make the parents of the hero believe that he was indeed a doctor.
But, in the real life story, the former students, who called for a press meet on Wednesday, said the college officials wanted to convince the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University officials, who visited the campus for inspection, that the college was functioning properly.
“I had to dress like a doctor in one of the rooms, which is set up as a hospital ward. As the officials moved on, I had to run to another classroom to sit there as a student. A week prior to such inspections, we were made to clean the premises, including washing toilets. Male students were made to paint college premises walls. This is how every time, college officials managed to hoodwink the inspecting authorities and get the affiliation,” narrated Vani Shri, a former student of the college.
The students also alleged, whenever they complained about the problems in the college to former Vice-Chancellors and Registrars of the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, those particular students were harassed by the college officials.
College officials would get to know which students have complained against them to the university officials. These students alone would be made to pay excess fees to the already exorbitant fees.
“I discontinued the college, because of a lack of infrastructure and ill-treatment by the college management. I joined in 2011 and quit the college after one year because I could not bear the torture,” said Kannadasan, another student.
“Despite students’ repeated complaints with the various departments, no action was initiated against the college, forcing me to discontinue,” he added.
Advocate Jim Raj Milton, who also addressed the press conference said, the students had complained to the university about how the college was deceiving the university officials during the inspections. A former Registrar of the University, however, ignored the complaints citing accreditation was given to the college after the inspection team found everything satisfactory, including the infrastructure and the quality of staff in the college in 2013.
Meanwhile, Dr S Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, told Express that she is examining how the college was granted affiliation and will do the needful for the affected students.
