13 Kashmiri students barred from sitting in exam

Rohtak, Apr 17: A private engineering college here has disallowed 13 students from Kashmir Valley from taking examination over non-receipt of fees.

The students said that they had been promised scholarship under the Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS).

One of the students told reporters that the college has expelled 13 of them from Kashmir valley for not paying money as desired by the institute.

The students are to appear for their third semester examination next month for BTech course at Rohtak Institute of Engineering and Management (RIEM).

When contacted, RIEM Director Kishore Chawla said 23 students from Kashmir Valley had got admission in the college for BTech course out of whom scholarships of ten had been received while those of the remaining 13 were pending.

"The institute told the students that it has not received the funds against their names from Union HRD ministry," Chawla said.

"An agreement was reached between the students and the management that they will pay Rs 20,000 each per semester from their own pocket to pursue further education," he said adding later the students backed out.

"I am still open to talks with them...we don't want them to suffer for want of funds," he added.

The students, who had rented three rooms in Prem Nagar locality, expressed their inability to pay up as their families had been devastated by floods in the past two years.

Another student Nasir Sofi said they had been promised full scholarship under the PMSSS at the time of admission in 2013.

"The college expelled us from the hostel last month," he said, adding, "the college management had asked us to pay the fees if we want to continue our study."

Another student Towseef Ahmad said the scholarship was exclusively meant for students of Jammu and Kashmir and covered tuition and hostel fees, cost of books and other incidental expenses.

The students maintained they had taken admission after a Srinagar-based consultancy Right to Education had promised them free education in the Rohtak college.

The students claimed they were eligible for scholarship as they had secured more than 60 per cent marks in Class 12th exam against the required 50 per cent.

"We have completed two semesters, but the management's decision of not allowing us to appear in the examination has put a question mark on our future," Sofi said.

PTI