‘DBU committed fraud’: Punjab Govt directs university to pay Rs 10 lakh to each affected student

NEW DELHI: The Punjab Government has directed Desh Bhagat University to pay Rs 10 lakh to each student who has been enrolled over and above the prescribed number of seats to compensate for the trauma and dislocation faced by the students.

Following the protest by Kashmiri students who were transferred to another college without their consent, the department of medical education and research conducted inspection of the nursing colleges under DBU. “It is clear that you have committed fraud on students for which criminal action is taken against you separately,” the department in a letter addressing the DBU chancellor said.

More than 70 Kashmiri students were transferred without their consent to Sardar Lal Singh College, which lacks the approval of Indian Nursing Council (INC) and PNRC (Punjab Nursing Registration Council).

No more admission in DBU

During the inspection, the state medical department found that the university had given admission to more than double the number of students permitted by the INC. “The physical infrastructure is totally inadequate,” it said.

“The district administration and the police were doing their best to control the situation, but the anger and frustration of the nursing students (specially of the session 2020-21) towards the management of the DBU, was growing higher with every passing moment,” it said.

During the protest, students also alleged that the police assaulted the protesting students. The Jammu and Kashmir students association (JKSA) has been voicing support to the students impacted due to the DBU admission scandal. It also wrote letters to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Union home minister Amit Shah urging them to take immediate action against the university’s ‘arbitrary’ decision.

The government order said that the DBU will continue teaching the students who have been legitimately admitted, however, it will not be allowed to admit any new student from now onwards.

It also directed the university to deposit the fees for the 3rd year students “to the institutions where the students will have to be shifted, as would inevitably be demanded by the respective colleges”.

Assuring that the government will try to facilitate the transfer, it said that the government is “no way is responsible to ensure that these children are accommodated, the complete fault is that of the university and shall continue to be so.”