Mandi Gobindgarh varsity nursing students sit on indefinite dharna

Fatehgarh Sahib, September 18

Even as the district police have booked Desh Bhagat University Chancellor Zora Singh, his wife, son and 13 others for allegedly cheating nursing students, the adamant pupils, especially girl students from Jammu and Kashmir, have started an indefinite dharna in front of the university gate.

The protesters have declared that they will continue their dharna until a decision is taken by the institute regarding their degrees. SAD workers — led by Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna, the state president of Students Organisation of Indian (SOI), the student-wing of SAD — and leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) have joined the students at the dharna site. The SGPC is serving langar to the protesters.

Following the episode, the university has declared holidays for an indefinite period and asked students to vacate the hostels. Sources said power supply to the hostels has been cut off.

A protesting student alleged that they had been deceived by the university. “We have paid crores of rupees as fees and hostel charges but many of us will get degrees from an unrecognised college as the Desh Bhagat Nursing College has been allotted only 60 seats by the Indian Nursing Council (INC) but the college has admitted 187 students, who are now being offered degrees from the Lal Singh College, which is not recognised by the INC or the state government,” the protester said.

Meanwhile, the police have issued an advisory urging people to exercise caution and refrain from spreading rumours regarding the case.