250 medicos vacate hostels in Pathankot, leave for Faridkot
Ravi Dhaliwal
Pathankot, July 12
As many as 250 students of the second and third year of the MBBS course in the White Medical College and Hospital, formerly known as the Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital, vacated their hostels after claiming that the management had threatened them with dire consequences.
They hired buses today morning and left for Faridkot to protest at the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. Many of them were accompanied by their parents, who reached Pathankot in the morning.
The college is owned by businessman Swaran Salaria who, incidentally, had joined AAP just before the Lok Sabha poll. Both boys and girls’ hostels were vacated in the morning under police protection. The students are staring at an uncertain future with many of them alleging that “the management had ruined their careers for no fault of theirs”.
On Wednesday night, the students had entered into an argument with the management over erratic power supply. They claimed that Salaria had not only openly issued threats, but also physically misbehaved with them. However, Managing Director Sunaina Sambyal claimed that “some of the students had manhandled Salaria, resulting in dislocation of his shoulder”.
The frightened students decided not to spend the night in the hostels on Thursday. The Pathankot district administration and the police made arrangements for their stay at a local gurdwara.
The students regrouped today and asked the administration to provide them with security because of the constant threats they were receiving. A video clip in which a senior functionary of the management could be heard bullying the students went viral.
The students have prepared video clips of management functionaries intimidating them, which have been forwarded to Pathankot DC Aditya Uppal and SSP Suhail Qasim Mir.
The administration has formed a high-level committee to look into the allegations made by the students.
The students have been complaining for several months that facilities are below par. Things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday night after irregular power supply disrupted their studies.
Sambyal said Salaria’s political rivals were creating disturbance in the college.
“He was attacked by the students on Wednesday night and his shoulder has been dislocated. We have lodged an FIR with the police. I agree there was an issue of erratic power supply,” she said.
Meanwhile, Pathankot MLA Ashwani Sharma, former Sujanpur MLA and BJP leader Dinesh Babbu and PPCC spokesperson Teena Choudhury reached the college campus on Wednesday to discuss the students’ problems. However, this was countered by Sambyal who said the situation went out of control only after politicians arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, SSP Suhail Qasim Mir denied the college had lodged an FIR as was being claimed by MD Sunaina Sambyal. “No FIR has been lodged. In fact, we have not even received a complaint from either the management or the students,” he said.
