Nursing students protest poor facilities

BHUBANESWAR: Students of Lord Jagannath Mission’s College and School of Nursing on Tuesday staged a demonstration in front of the official residence of Health Minister Prasanna Acharya seeking his intervention into the matters of education and infrastructure in the  institution. The students, who have also staged a dharna at PMG Square, stated that they were pursuing their studies under deficient infrastructure and facilities despite shelling out hefty sums for admissions into the B.Sc and M.Sc courses in nursing. The college did not have required number of faculty members and the class infrastructure was not even fit for training. The lodging facilities were dismal with acute shortage of rooms so much so that more than 60 students were crammed into a single room, they alleged. They were not given adequate practical training and classes were not held regularly. In fact, classes were disrupted and discontinued regularly in the absence of faculty. Over 450 students have taken admission to the courses. They alleged that despite taking up the matters of faculty and infrastructure with the management and authorities several times, no action was taken. Instead, the authorities adopted a vindictive approach and threatened them with dire consequences. They also stated that the management in a bid to break the agitation had sent four persons posing as members of Women’s Commission earlier. The alleged imposters had tried to talk them into withdrawing the strike by giving promises. But, it was later learnt from the Commission that it had sent no representatives. The Commission has also assured to look into the  matter.