About 250 second- and third-year MBBS students left their dorms at the White Medical College and Hospital, formerly known as Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital, citing threats from the management. This was a big episode. Many parents accompanied the students as they hired busses and drove to Faridkot to protest at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. Claims that the management, headed by billionaire Swaran Salaria, had threatened the students with terrible consequences were the cause of this mass exodus. When the students addressed the management, their frustration at the inconsistent power supply interfering with their study, the situation became more heated. Managing Director Sunaina Sambyal argued that Salaria had been attacked by the students, resulting in a dislocated shoulder, in response to Salaria’s alleged threats and physical intimidation.
The management and students got into a furious quarrel on Wednesday night about the power supply. The students claim that they were compelled to vacate the hostels due to Salaria’s physical misbehavior and threats. The Pathankot district administration arranged for the students to spend Thursday night under police protection in a nearby gurdwara out of fear for their safety.
After more threats, the students got together the next day and asked the administration for security. Their accusations of intimidation were strengthened when a video of a top management employee harassing the pupils went viral. The kids recorded these incidences and sent SSP Suhail Qasim Mir and Pathankot Deputy Commissioner Aditya Uppal the supporting documentation. A high-level committee was established to look into the claims in response.
For months, students had been complaining about inadequate facilities, but on Wednesday night, when their studies were interrupted by an unstable power supply, things got worse. Sambyal indicated that Salaria’s political adversaries were taking advantage of the circumstance to sow discord. She acknowledged the irregular power supply problem, but she also stated that students had attacked Salaria and that a formal complaint had been made. SSP Suhail Qasim Mir, however, refuted this, claiming that neither a formal complaint nor a FIR had been submitted by any side.
To hear the complaints of the students, PPCC spokesperson Teena Choudhury, former Sujanpur MLA and BJP leader Dinesh Babbu, and Pathankot MLA Ashwani Sharma visited the college. Sambyal maintained that these politicians’ involvement was the reason the situation deteriorated. The divergent accounts and absence of official grievances underscore the intricacy and strain associated with the occurrence, casting doubt on the pupils’ educational prospects and necessitating an exhaustive inquiry and settlement.
SOURCE:
THE TRIBUNE
