Dimapur, October 1 : The Eastern Nagaland College Students’ Union (ENCSU) has protested what it alleged was the Technical Education department “taking away four MBBS seats reserved for the BTs with the excuse that there were no qualified candidates.”
The group issued a press release on Saturday. The ENCSU has decided to resume agitations, starting October 5 across the four districts in the eastern region of the state.
‘The ENCSU express our displeasure to the Technical Education department in particular and the government of Nagaland in general for step motherly attitude towards the Backward Tribes of the state by taking away 4 MBBS seats reserved for the BTs with the excuse that there were no qualified candidates,’ it complained.
Stating that the government and the department were “well aware of the grievances” expressed by the ENCSU, the union expressed “surprise that the government is not in a position to rectify errors committed by some officials of the department for their own vested interests.”
They alleged that the government and the department “violated their own assurance given to the ENCSU on 6th September, 2016 not to fill up 4 MBBS seats till the Cabinet decides on this matter.” The department is alleged to have “internally filled up all the MBBS seats including the 3 additional seats even before the cabinet took decision on 26th September, 2016.”
‘We oppose the decision of the Cabinet to allocate 4 BDS seats as replacement against the 4 MBBS seats. The union question the government and the department that if there were no candidates qualified to study MBBS than how come the same candidates are found qualified for BDS since the same qualification is prescribed for both MBBS and BDS?’
Further, the union said that the department ‘did not make known’ the three additional MBBS seats to the Cabinet during said meeting.
“The department advertised only the fourth additional MBBS seat which was received after the Cabinet meeting. Hence, the ENCSU challenge the department to come out openly in print media about the status of the first 3 additional MBBS seats,” the press release stated.
The ENCSU said to resume its third phase of agitations, this one starting October 5 across Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire, and Longleng, till the demand of the union to allocate the four MBBS seats is met.
The agitation will curtail the movement of government vehicles in said districts.
“If the demand is not met during the above phase of agitation, it will be followed by shutting down of all government offices across eastern Nagaland till the demand is met. If the demand is not met even during the above phase of agitation, it will be followed by total bandh across eastern Nagaland till the demand is met,” the union stated.
Emergency services, security forces, magistrates on duty, and students “appearing end semester exam” are exempted from the prohibition, the press release stated.
