POKHARA, Feb 6: The protest staged by the students of Gandaki Medical College (GMC) has taken a serious turn as students padlocked the Outpatient Department (OPD) indefinitely since Tuesday.
Students have been staging continuous protests and rallies venting their ire against the college authorities for charging enormously high fees than mentioned in the fee structure. Twenty hours before taking this major step, the students had warned of doing so if their demands were not addressed at the earliest.
Students padlock Bhairahawa-based Universal Medical College
As the college authorities did not responded to the ultimatum, the students padlocked the OPD. The former student doctors as well as parents have backed the students. Though the administration had announced to organize a group interaction program at around 11 am on Tuesday, no one from the college authorities showed up.
"We had no option other than padlocking the OPD as the administration did not respond to our ultimatum," said one of the students, adding, "We have paid the mentioned fees but the college has been making us pay unnecessary charges. So, we want them to return our money."
According to a cabinet cabinet in the past, students studying MBBS outside the Kathmandu Valley have to spend around Rs 4.2 to 4.5 million but the students lament that they have to pay more than Rs 5.5 million for their studies.
On Sunday, students filed a complaint against the college at the District Administration Office (DAO), Kaski and submitted evidences of how the college has been extorting them.
