Varsity warns nursing colleges

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, June 12

After many aspiring girl students falling prey to the tactics of some private nursing colleges in the state, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has warned all nursing colleges to desist from fleecing and exploiting innocent students.

It is alleged that capitalising on the desperation and ignorance of many nursing aspirants, some colleges contact them on phones through admission representatives.

These ‘sales-people’ used pressure tactics to sign the students for admission to their colleges and take custody of their certificates and also accept fee.

Some colleges indulge in this practice even before the start of common counselling for admission, to be conducted by the BFUHS.

The medical university conducts the counselling on the basis of merit in the Punjab Para-Medical Entrance Test (PPMET), said Dr Arvind Sharma, registrar, BFUHS.

At the time of counselling, if a student wants to change the college, these sales-people don’t allow the students to do so, using the custody of their certificates and deposited fee as pressure tools.

The BFUHS has warned all nursing colleges that if any college or its representative is found guilty of indulging in such practices, the university will de-affiliate that college and take criminal action against it, said the registrar.

Punjab has more than 110 nursing colleges affiliated to the BFUHS. The university is the nodal agency to conduct counselling and make admissions to all nursing colleges.

The students have to fill their application forms on their own and not with help of any college or its representative, said Dr Arvind Sharma.

The university is getting frequent complaints about fleecing and blackmailing of students on the basis of their certificates and deposited fee with some nursing colleges in the state, said Dr Sharma.

Sources said the reason for some private nursing colleges indulging in this practice of booking students before the starting of counselling for the admission is that these colleges find it difficult to fill their seats.

As more than 50 per cent seats in the nursing course remained vacant in the recent years, many colleges take the service of salespersons, offering them commission, to trap more and more students before the start of counselling.

Girl students from rural areas are easy target of these sales agents.

“If any student comes across a college, which is luring them with such malpractices by offering any benefit of taking seat in their college, the student shall report it to the university immediately. The university will maintain the confidentiality of such student under all circumstances,” said the registrar.