Haryana: Students Of World Medical College Of Sciences Protest As MCI Derecognizes College, Bars Further Admissions

The last 45 days have been tough for the students of World Medical College of Sciences in Jhajjar, Haryana , after they found out that the college was derecognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI), putting as many as 148 students’ future in jeopardy.

As per reports, the college failed to meet MCI’s assessments thrice, as a result of which they have been restricted from admitting new batches of medical students, leaving a batch of 2016 as the last set to have been admitted. This prompted the students to write letters to Prime Minister Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind seeking permission to die or allow them to get admission in another government institute, because they feel staying in this institute will hamper their career progress.

On the other hand, the authorities at the college have dismissed the students’ concerns as baseless, saying that a bar on fresh admissions will not affect existing students.

College Environment “Intimidating And Threatening”

World Medical College of Sciences was founded in the year 2016 and since then the affected students are the only batch to study there. Permission from the MCI was also given in particular to this batch to admit students. Later, the MCI put more restrictions and barred the college from taking in a new batches of students. Moreover, the college also could not get renewed permission for the batch of 2016, making matters worse for the students, stoking fear among them that their admission will no longer be valid.

Confused students are asking questions to MCI and the government who gave permission to the college to admit the only batch given the apathy of the college, its infrastructure, and the lack of teaching staff and patients. They are scared that by the time they pass the four-year MBBS course, the college would have shut down and their hard-earned degrees could be just reduced to a piece of paper.

“Everyone around the area where our college and hospital is located already believes that this college is shut down,” said Neeraj Ahlawat, one of the students.

In 2017, the college apparently bribed certain officials to reverse the debarment order. CBI raided and arrested the chairman of the college, Narender Singh, and his son Kunwar Nishant Singh. This year, through an RTI application, it was revealed that the permission granted was temporary in nature and a contingency was placed on the college to fulfill all the loopholes found in the MCI inspection. The regulator carried out several assessments throughout this year and reported that the atmosphere in the college was “intimidating and threatening”.

According to an official of the Board of Governors, students’ careers would not be jeopardised by the bar on fresh admissions alone. The possibility of such a college shutting down or functioning with skeletal facilities is very high.

In their letters to the Prime Minister and the state Chief Minister, all relevant assessment documents have been shared. Given these circumstances, the students have requested in their letter to be shifted to other medical colleges in the state. College authorities, meanwhile, claim that these protests are a ploy from students to move to a medical college in Rohtak where they failed to get a seat due to bad NEET scores.

The students and their parents are struggling everywhere to get their voices heard and seek some kind of positive response. Recently, they met Anna Hazare in New Delhi, who has offered to help and take the matter to the PMO. Notably, since last Sunday, college officials are not allowing agitated students to enter college premises, making the students spend the night outside on the road.

Also Read: “We Will Not Tolerate Harassment And Beating Anymore”: Protesting Doctors In West Bengal