Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met with students from the Fathima Institute of Medical Sciences (FIMS) on Monday, a day after they threatened to commit suicide.
Close to 100 students from the 2015-16 MBBS batch of the institute, have been protesting in Vijayawada, after their college was been derecognised and concerned authorities didn't relocate them to other medical colleges.
“The government is committed to ensure justice for students on this issue, and is making maximum efforts to convince the Medical Council of India (MCI) and find a possible solution to relocate students. But despite our best efforts, you are threatening us by climbing cell towers. This is not correct way (to protest),” Naidu was quoted as saying.
High drama prevailed in Gudanala in Vijayawada on Sunday after six students of Fathima College, Kadapa and a parent climbed a mobile tower and threatened suicide if the government failed to give a written assurance to the protestors.
After 7-hours, the protesters resigned and came down, after the Chief Minister gave them an appointment.
The Chief Minister also told the students that he had directed state Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas to talk to the MCI and hammer out a solution, and appointed a five-member committee to air the grievances of the students, before the Centre.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Mujeer, a student of FIMS who met the CM, said, "We are feeling a sense of relief after the CM’s assurance as he had taken the issue of the climbing of the mobile tower very seriously. We had asked the CM who was responsible for the loss of seats in the other colleges despite his assurance at the time of the Nandyal election. The CM then asked minister Kamineni Srinivas and took a serious note of the minister not giving a proper feedback on the matter. The CM also objected to the interference of MLA Jaleel Khan. He promised to be in telephonic or video conference contact with all the 100 affected students of FIMS till all their problems were resolved."
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to move the Supreme Court.
It was also decided that minister Kamineni Srinivas would visit Delhi on November 29 and 30, along with officials and students, to discuss the issue with the Centre.
Background
It all started in 2015, when the MCI derecognised the institution before the academic year began. However, the FIMS management went to the Hyderabad High Court and were allowed to provisionally admit students.
On April 24, 2016, almost nine months into their course, the students got to know that their college was derecognised, and that their admissions were null and void.
The students were angry and upset at this development – and that’s when an alternate proposal was put on the table, supported by the Andhra government.
According to the proposal, five students each from the FIMS 2015-16 batch would be relocated to 20 other medical colleges across the state.
However, the MCI did not agree with the proposal, and the case went to court. On October 27 this year, the Supreme Court dismissed a case filed by the Andhra Pradesh government on behalf of the students of FIMS.