Students of DD Medical College in Tiruvallur called off their hunger protest on Friday evening after officials held talks with them.
The students, who have been left in the lurch as the Medical Council of India (MCI) cancelled the college’s recognition in 2011, had been demanding that the State government take over the college and enable them to continue their studies.
As many as 33 boys and 46 girls of the derecognised 2011-2012 batch, along with 25 parents, were on an indefinite fast since August 6. Officials of the Tiruvallur district administration held talks with the students asking them to give up their fast. “On Friday evening, officials told us that a report on our requests had been submitted to the Chief Minister’s special cell. Following this, we called off the hunger protest,” said one of the protesting students.
G.R. Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctors Association for Social Equality, who met the students earlier, said the government should step in and take steps to allow them to write the examination. “MCI should change its norms and particularly move the deadline for new colleges and existing colleges to get approval, from July to April. This way, students will have a clear picture on which colleges are approved by MCI before they seek admissions,” he said. He added that the MCI should allow the government to take over such derecognised colleges.
