Students Begun “Fast Unto Death,”
Students of the Cherraan’s Institute of Health Sciences protesting the exorbitant fees collected by the management in the city on Thursday. Officers of the Collectorate on Thursday raided the Cherraan’s Institute of Health Science, an affiliate of the Dr. MGR Medical University, after students made allegations of administrative irregularities. The students have begun a “fast unto death,” accusing the management of illegally charging fees in excess of Rs. 20,000 and misleading them about the college’s credibility and facilities.
Following meetings with student representatives, Collector V. Palanikumar directed the Revenue Divisional Officer to hold an enquiry into the accusations on Thursday. The RDO inspected the institute premises for three hours. The Collector has also asked the Registrar of the Dr. MGR Medical University to look into the allegations. The students claimed that the college had been charging fees in excess of what has been fixed by the Government and more than what the management had quoted in the admission prospectus. “Some students were forced to pay fines up to Rs. 18,000 without any reason being cited,” a representative said.
Among the other fees that students were allegedly made to pay were Rs. 750 for a cultural meet that had not been organised for two years, Rs. 1,500 for Internet facilities to which students said they were not allowed access, and Rs. 4,500 for an eight-day computer course. “Students of three postgraduate courses could not sit for examinations because the college had failed to get recognition for these courses from the university,” a representative said.
