Result withheld over fee, MBBS students cry foul

Balwant Garg & Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Faridkot/Patiala, March 30

The delay in the declaration of result of their final prof has left at least 75 MBBS students in the lurch.

The affected students, presently studying at government medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala, and Faridkot, are of the 2014-15 batch of Chintpurni Medical College, which was shut following irregularities.

On the directions of the Supreme Court, 98 MBBS students were shifted to the three government colleges. While 41 were shifted to Faridkot, 30 Amritsar and 27 Patiala. A controversy started about two months back, when 18 students of Faridkot college, 30 Amritsar and 27 of Patiala college refused to pay Rs 3.22 lakh fee. They claimed that they would only pay fee as applicable for government students, not the government quota fee of private colleges.

While publishing the result of final prof part-II on March 28, the BFUHS withheld the result of these 75 students for non-payment of tuition fee.

The matter is sub judice ever since these students were shifted to the GMCs. The students and their parents have alleged that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has already directed the colleges to stick to the fee as per the government quota seat, which is Rs 28,350 until a final decision was taken.

They claim that last year, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), through a letter, had directed the colleges to take annual fees as applicable for government students.

On the other hand, the university authorities maintained that the letter was issued mistakenly and it was annulled by the department on March 6.

Dr Raj Bahadur, vice chancellor, BFUHS, said in the notification for the shifting of 98 students in September 2017, it was clearly mentioned that as the private medical colleges had refused to admit these students at government fee, they would pay government quota seat fee of private colleges, to which they had agreed.

A student of GMC, Patiala, said, “Ever since we were shifted from Chintpurni to GMC, we have been facing problems. Till date, the CMCH has not given our detailed mark sheets. Now when we are about to begin internship, we have been asked to pay lakhs of rupees within two weeks.”

Arun Batra, father of an affected student, said, “Earlier, the university had denied roll numbers to the students and now it has withheld the result. This is a case of contempt of court.”

Sushil Goyal, president, CMCH Parent Welfare Association, said, “The vice chancellor of BFUHS and Additional Health Secretary have turned a blind eye to the issue. The CM should intervene in the matter.”

Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, said, “If the matter is sub judice, I will not be able to comment, but the government has always helped these students. It was on Capt Amarinder’s directions that they were adjusted in government institutions in 2017 after the CMCH went bankrupt.”

Future at stake

In the absence of their result, if the 75 students fail to initiate one-year internship from April 1 onwards, they would not be eligible for NEET-PG, 2020, the entrance test for admission in MD and MS courses.