GNLF seeks Hill quota.. halts nursing admission

SNS, 15 August 2019, Darjeeling: The Gorkha National Liberation Front's (GNLF) Jan Chetna Sangarsh Samity halted the admission process of candidates who have been selected to pursue the General Nursing and Midwifery course at the Nursing Training School in Darjeeling for some hours today. Members of the Samity (committee), however later allowed admission of those who had been there today, and they maintained that they would not allow the admission for the remaining candidates until their demand for tallying the marks obtained by local candidates with those that had got admission was met.

Different political parties here have been protesting against the recent list that has come out for the course, with them alleging that only a handful of Hill candidates found a place in the list, and that a majority of the selected students were from outside. "We were not allowing the admissions today, but looking at the problems the students had been facing, as they had come from far off places. we allowed the admission for them only. While the admission process is supposed to continue till 17 August, we will not allow the same until our demand is heard. We also allowed the admissions today on condition that there should be no online admissions, and that there should be 80 percent hill quota. Also, we want a tally of the mark sheets of those who have got admissions and the children from the Hills who had cleared the tests," said JCSS leader Manzila Tamang.

Posters were also put up by the JCSS at Chowk Bazar here today with the same demands. The posters also wondered why the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration was quiet on the issue so far.

Meanwhile, candidates who had come from outside faced problems in the morning as the admission process began only after 3:00 PM.

'When we came here in the morning, we did not understand what the problem was, and came to know about it later on. Looking at the language barrier, we feel that it is better if our children get admissions in the plains and children from the hills get admissions here. We just want the problem to be solved and that my child gets to study," Bijay Biswas, parent of one candidate from Jalpaiguri said.

The list for admissions in  GNM course for the session October 2019 to September 2022 was recently published. It is a three-year course, including six months' internship in the Nursing Training School under the department of Health and Family Welfare. In the 39 GNM schools in West Bengal, the total number of seats is 2300 for female and 105 for male. There are two such schools in the hills with one in Darjeeling and the other in Kalimpong, with there being 50 seats and 40 seats, respectively. The online application for the admission was open on 1 June this year, with the last date being 17 June. According to the JCSS, only seven local candidates had made it to the admission list in Darjeeling while around two local candidates had made it to the list in Kalimpong. GTA chairman Anit Thapa had written to Cnief Mitister Mamata Banerjjee on the matter, asking her to look into the issue.