B.Pharm. students at the National College of Pharmacy of the KMCT Group of Institutions launched a strike in front of their campus at Manassery here on Monday.
The students said the college authorities had failed to obtain recognition from the Kerala University of Health Sciences for their admission even a year after they joined the course. They alleged that the college had admitted 97 students, though the sanctioned strength was 60.
“The college authorities told us before admissions that university recognition has been obtained,” Joys Chacko, student, said.
The students, who said they were paying Rs.1 lakh a year as fee, came to know about the “deceit” of the management when they asked the college to issue affiliation certificate for taking out educational loan.
Certificate issue
“When the college authorities kept delaying the issue of the certificate, we approached the university only to find the hard truth,” T.P. Shuaib, student, said.
Though the students held discussions with the college authorities more than once to find a solution, nothing came out of these except “false promises,” A. Jishnu said. The college authorities had given in writing that they would obtain affiliation by April 27. But nothing happened till date, he said.
College version
K.M. Navas, college director, in a release, said the Pharmacy Council of India, the supreme authority of pharmacy education in the country, issued an order permitting the college to admit 100 students to the course last year.
The All India Council for Technical Education had approved the course in May 2012. The university was delaying the recognition for technical reasons.
The college had approached the Governor seeking to overrule the “unfair” decision of the university, but a decision had been delayed, he added. The students demand that the management reimburse the fee, return their certificates and pay compensation. “We resorted to the strike as a desperate measure as the management was not ready to budge from its stand,” Joys Chacko said.