Students lock USTC in Ctg

“The students are now facing uncertainty as they cannot do any internship or become medical practitioners without the BMDC registration”

The University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) and the university-run hospital has been locked down since wednesday last by agitating students who were denied registration by the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC). 

The BMDC refused to give registration to about 1,309 MBBS students of the USTC as the students were admitted by violating the rules and regulations of the council from the academic year 2011–12. Among those affected are over 500 students from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives.
The students are now facing uncertainty as they cannot do any internship or become medical practitioners without the BMDC registration. 
They have been staging demonstrations since January this year. The USTC had admitted around 368 students in each of its 25th, 26th, 27th batches against the approval of 75 students a year. In the 28th batch, it admitted 87 students by flouting the rules. 
About 410 students could not sit for the BMDC exam as the council has refused to give them registration.
The foreign students have informed their respective embassies, while the local ones continue to demonstrate on the campus.
 Following requests by neighbouring countries, the health and family welfare ministry imposed a fine of Tk. 10 crore on the USTC authorities on February 22.
Although the ministry gave the USTC one month’s time to pay the fine, it is yet to make the payment. Moreover, USTC authorities have made an application to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on March 19 to reduce the fine amount.
On Wednesday, the affected students demonstrated again and demanded immediate registration as the university failed to pay the fine within the stipulated time. 
The irate students closed all the departments of the university and the hospital yesterday for an indefinite period and put up blockades on Zakir Hossain Road for an hour. 
The blockade caused traffic snarls and greatly inconvenienced commuters.
The worst victims, however, were the patients who came to the hospital for treatment. 
When asked, the USTC authorities said they are not bound to pay the fine as the ministry did not give them any instructions for the 25th, 26th and 27th batches.
Imran Hossain and Arafat, two agitating students, said they would continue their demonstration, and the university and hospital would remain closed until their demands are met. “We don’t trust the university authorities. 
They’re trying to save someone without caring about the future of the students,” one of them alleged. 
The authorities applied to the PMO to reduce the fine amount from Tk. 10 crore to Tk. 3 crore, said sources in USTC.
“We’ve applied to the PMO to reduce the fine as they didn’t give any directive for admitting students for the 25th, 26th and 27th batches. We enrolled 368 students in each of these batches. 
We reduced the intake after receiving directives since the time of the 28th batch. 
In fact, we admitted only 75 students for the 30th batch as per the rule. The PMO has already written to the ministry to consider the matter. 
We hope it'll be resolved within a week,” said Nurul Absar, pro-vice-chancellor of the USTC.
“The USTC and hospital have been locked down due to the ongoing agitation by the students,” he added.
Earlier, admissions of patients to the emergency and indoor services were halted twice for the same reason.

Students lock USTC in Ctg

“The students are now facing uncertainty as they cannot do any internship or become medical practitioners without the BMDC registration”

The University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) and the university-run hospital has been locked down since wednesday last by agitating students who were denied registration by the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC). The BMDC refused to give registration to about 1,309 MBBS students of the USTC as the students were admitted by violating the rules and regulations of the council from the academic year 201112. Among those affected are over 500 students from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives. The students are now facing uncertainty as they cannot do any internship or become medical practitioners without the BMDC registration. They have been staging demonstrations since January this year. The USTC had admitted around 368 students in each of its 25th, 26th, 27th batches against the approval of 75 students a year. In the 28th batch, it admitted 87 students by flouting the rules. About 410 students could not sit for the BMDC exam as the council has refused to give them registration. The foreign students have informed their respective embassies, while the local ones continue to demonstrate on the campus. Following requests by neighbouring countries, the health and family welfare ministry imposed a fine of Tk. 10 crore on the USTC authorities on February 22. Although the ministry gave the USTC one months time to pay the fine, it is yet to make the payment. Moreover, USTC authorities have made an application to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) on March 19 to reduce the fine amount. On Wednesday, the affected students demonstrated again and demanded immediate registration as the university failed to pay the fine within the stipulated time. The irate students closed all the departments of the university and the hospital yesterday for an indefinite period and put up blockades on Zakir Hossain Road for an hour. The blockade caused traffic snarls and greatly inconvenienced commuters. The worst victims, however, were the patients who came to the hospital for treatment. When asked, the USTC authorities said they are not bound to pay the fine as the ministry did not give them any instructions for the 25th, 26th and 27th batches. Imran Hossain and Arafat, two agitating students, said they would continue their demonstration, and the university and hospital would remain closed until their demands are met. We dont trust the university authorities. Theyre trying to save someone without caring about the future of the students, one of them alleged. The authorities applied to the PMO to reduce the fine amount from Tk. 10 crore to Tk. 3 crore, said sources in USTC. Weve applied to the PMO to reduce the fine as they didnt give any directive for admitting students for the 25th, 26th and 27th batches. We enrolled 368 students in each of these batches. We reduced the intake after receiving directives since the time of the 28th batch. In fact, we admitted only 75 students for the 30th batch as per the rule. The PMO has already written to the ministry to consider the matter. We hope itll be resolved within a week, said Nurul Absar, pro-vice-chancellor of the USTC. The USTC and hospital have been locked down due to the ongoing agitation by the students, he added. Earlier, admissions of patients to the emergency and indoor services were halted twice for the same reason.