BAHAWALNAGAR-Seventeen students of the Nursing School were rusticated for protesting against the alleged corruption and nepotism carried out by the school management and health officers.
District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdul Razzaq instead of taking action against the responsible persons took action against the protesters. The 17 protesting students were suspended by principal of the Nursing School on the orders of Abdul Razzaq and DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Rana Imtiaz.
About 100 students of Nursing School in Bahawalnagar have not been paid educational stipend. Thus, they took out a rally to register protest outside the office of CEO. From the office, the MS took them along with him to have dialogues with them in the school where he promised with them that the payment of the outstanding amount will be made soon.
When contacted, DC Azhar Hayat said that he was unaware of the issue. He further said that he had made arrangements in collaboration with government of the Punjab for the release of funds within two days.
On the other side, sources said that the Punjab government has already released the funds weeks ago but the officials are the hurdle. The CEO issued a worth Rs4.103 million cheque for the signature of the deputy commissioner. The students protested against non-payment for which the principal of the school issued a letter and suspended only 17 students of the 1st year. These students include Ameena, Fatima, Rabia, Fazeela, Asifa, Lubna, Aisha, Noreen, Membra, Huma, Tehreem, Atiya, Rozeena, Noreen Gulshan, and Irum.
The sources added that Principal Naseem Atta told the suspended students to please the CEO in his office and apologise to him for having taken out protest or they will remain suspended.