Protests as colleges refuse admission to SCs

Tribune News Service

Phagwara, June 24

With most private universities and colleges in the Dalit hub of Doaba refusing admissions to SC students without levying any fee, protests have begun in the region.

A day-long protest was organised by Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leader Jarnail Nangal outside the office of the SDM today wherein SC students, who have been demanding fee waiver by private institutions, also joined. Since the protest went on from 10 am to 5 pm, the SDM remained away from his office today.

A Tehsildar was sent to pacify the activists but they refused to budge and demanded the intervention of the administration on the matter related to the admission of Dalit students under the Post Matric Scholarship scheme. Owing to a three-year delay in the disbursement of the fee of SC students to the colleges, the authorities have begun seeking feefrom the Dalit students.

Baljeet Kaur, an SC student of Khotran village, who wants to pursue MSc (Economics), said, “I approached a private university for admission under the scheme but I was told to pay Rs50,000, which I cannot afford.” Manjit Singh of Kaulsar Mohalla, whose daughter wanted to take admission in LLB, too, narrated a similar story. There were boys from Muthada Kalan and Nangal villages, who alleged they were being denied free admission.

Jarnail Nangal announced that the protest would be continue till the time all deserving SC students got free admission.

The target of the protest remained Lovely Professional University (LPU). Additional Director of LPU Aman Mittal issued a statement to the media, “At LPU, all candidates eligible under the Post Matric Scholarship scheme are being offered admissions. We are following the latest guidelines issued by the Central and state governments where they have asked institutions to verify eligibility of all SC students before admission and seek assurance of payment.”