State government to approach MCI, Centre for Fathima Medical College students

Kadapa, AP: With the suicide threat by Fathima Medical College(FMC), students having subsided after six of them climbed down from the cell tower after 4 hours, when the promised appointment with the Chief Minister came through, the students have now been informed that their problem can only be resolved by the Centre and the Medical Council of India(MCI) in unison. The Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu during a meeting, on Monday, with the Fathima students, told them that the state government would ask the apex education regulator to see whether admission could be provided to them for the next academic session of the college.

"The government is committed to ensuring 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 with climbing cell towers. This is not the correct way (to protest)," Naidu was reported to have told the students, according to Hans India.

Speaking about state initiatives to be taken for them, Mr. Naidu said the state was willing to bear the coaching class expenditure of all the students, wanting to appear for the NEET exam. Measures would be taken he said against the college management if they filed any cases against the students or parents.

The other important initiative the state would take as a support measure for Fathima students would be it requesting the centre to file a petition in the Supreme Court. Following the Ministerial meeting, the houses passed a resolution, on Monday, for a review petition to be filed by the Centre in the Supreme Court.

Mr Naidu revealed to the students that he had directed state Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas to talk to the MCI and work out a solution. A five-member committee to air the grievances of the students before the Centre has also been formed, he further informed.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Health and Medical Education Kamineni Srinivas reiterated Naidu's stand saying that the CM would urge the Central government to push the case in Supreme Court. He said that the matter was not under the control of the Andhra Pradesh Government and that the centre and the MCI were the only two who could solve the problem being faced by the medical students.

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."

The state Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas is to visit Delhi on November 29 and 30, along with officials and students, to discuss the issue at the central level.

Approximately a 100 students from the 2015-16 MBBS batch of the institute, have been staging protests in Vijayawada, against the derecognition of their college and for not having been relocated to other colleges, for some time now.

Matters escalated when 6 of them along with a parent climbed a cell tower in Gudanala, Vijayawada on Sunday and threatened suicide if the government failed to give a written assurance to them.

Looking back, the problem emerged in 2015, when the Council derecognized Fathima Medical college, before the commencement of the academic year. However, the FIMS management won the round by going to the Hyderabad High Court and getting permission for provisional admissions, reports News Minute.

After 9 months of study, on April 24, 2016, the students were informed that the college had been derecognized and their admissions now stood cancelled.

The students registered their protest with the government which put forth an alternate proposal of admitting batches of five, in the 20 medical colleges spread all over the state.

The MCI disapproved and a case was admitted to the court. The fate of the case was nailed on October 27 when the Supreme Court finally dismissed the plea filed by the Andhra Government on behalf of the students.