After ruining primary and secondary education of Tripura with under-qualified party men as teachers, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar is now pursuing their long cherished agenda to make zero knowledge Doctors and Engineers to retain in power.

 To win the common peoples’ heart he set up poor quality but highly paid two medical colleges and elevated the lone polytechnic college to an engineering college with his yes men cadres.

None of the medical college has minimum infrastructure and enough qualified teachers to produce good quality doctors but issued MBBS certificate to about 400 students since 2011. Similarly, since 2012 polytechnic turns Tripura Institute of Technology (TIT) issued B Tech certificate to about 3200 students.

Thanks to Manik Sarkar, Tripura people now think to buy a certificate for next generation either a doctor or an engineer. For getting an engineering certificate, the students do not require practicing curriculum – only thing needs to pamper and pay money to under qualified teachers belong to Sarkar’s lobby.

Manik Sarkar appointed a group of teachers who are dedicated party workers and managed certificate by payment and get job at the behest of CPI-M party. The public money is channelized to them as salary and in turn they pay hefty amount to the party fund.

Same thing happened in the medical education in Tripura. The colleges are running with nameplate based professors and a few party recognised associate and assistant professors. In both AGMC and TMC, have many doctors who are more qualified and talented than so called APs but working as Senior Residents. Because they are not belonging to prefer lobby of Sarkar or not get the stamp of CPI-M.

Both the medical colleges are running by the state government but for AGMC, the state government takes Rs 19 lakh for an MBBS, which is only Rs 3-5 lakh in any of the govt medical college in India. The same government funded TMC runs by a society in paper and charged Rs 35 lakh for an MBBS. No teacher, no laboratory facilities, no library, no amenities for students and teachers.

Medical college teachers are getting mandatory amenities like a primary school. Salaries and perks are also meager. They all have to work under political agents of Manik in the colleges. No rule or regulation functions their – they are treated like a domestic help. Shame, after hard work hours together teachers are sitting with sisters and interns in the broken chairs.

MCI is managed by Sarkar with his political influence and it seems Narendra Modi led central government is also managed somehow with bluffing of Manik Sarkar. Both AGMC and TMC can’t even be consider as state referral hospital because of it’s infrastructure and amenities but for past 10 years they are running as medical colleges and produces doctors!

All so called experienced and senior doctors are getting posted in the cities. Certificate holders of AGMC and TMC many of them not even learns to write the medicine name properly are posted to villages. Question comes, what wrong the village and rural people do that they will be treated by illiterate and under qualified doctors? Left Front government is opening up hospitals in every Panchayats with those non-doctors MBBS. Result, poor people are dying every day either without treatment or wrong treatment in the villages.

Second despite huge hospital buildings every day hundreds of patients are referred to IGM and AGMC even for simple fever. The patients are treated on floor. What a mockery and joke with innocent civilians by Sarkar? The government which could not provide a simple clean bed and good diet in the hospital, how they claim speak for success of the government? The best (!) doctor of AGMC has got the tag of personal physician of Manik Sarkar. But Sarkar never admitted in AGMC for his treatment. Always even for simple blood test he goes to AIIMS or Kolkata. With the tag of personal physician, the best doctor squeezing common people by writing at least 10 medicines in single prescription for a simple disease. After a certain stage they are getting referred – who goes outside get saved who not die simple and get death certificate.         

The issue came to light when hundreds of students issued written threat to Manik Sarkar for restoration of academic atmosphere and ensure basic minimum facilities at state run lone engineering college TIT. Left Front government has been running the college in connivance with the corrupt lobby of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) despite not having minimum infrastructure. Instead of academic pursuit it has turned into a den of all anti-social activities, students alleged. 

Some diploma level teachers and school teacher have been elevated to associate professors violating required norms for teaching B Tech students for years together. A large section of teachers close to CPI-M party and Sarkar are not taking classes and always threatening to make students fail if we inform the matter to the authority. They are supplying some questions ahead of exams and all the questions come in test. The teachers are not checking the test papers but giving marks. Bundles of unchecked test papers are found in the institute canteen and nearby shops.

AICTE approved the degree courses for past seven years without inspecting the infrastructure in TIT. Tripura (Central) University has recognised the college but never look at the basic deficiencies and fair conduct of examination.

Tripura University VC Prof A K Ghosh doesn’t want to hostile Manik Sarkar. He confessed in multiple occasions, “We don’t want tussle with the state government". What a paradox for Tripura in left rule.”

TIT doesn’t have hostel yet. The library has dumped with books beyond syllabus and operated only for few hours. The college bought e-journal but not accessible for the students. Internet facility is not there and 266 computers bought under centrally sponsored fund but not installed yet. Neither University nor AICTE verified the teachers’ qualification and placement of the students after obtaining B Tech degree from TIT.

“About 1900 students of TIT have passed out from the college but could not be an engineer. We don’t have placement cell in the college, therefore there is no chance of campus interviews. However, whenever we appear for interview in private concern, every time we have been asked whether we got selected for campusing and ultimately we got rejected,” a student rues. 

“A teacher having experience of teaching in the school got direct appointment as associate professor in TIT. But the teachers joined as assistant professor for degree level with higher qualification remained junior to him,” a teacher said and added that all those nuisance happened because of a former Secretary of higher education (Retired) of Manik lobby.

The students alleged the college does not have sufficient class rooms and laboratories. The laboratory assistants are absorbed in the institute with lesser qualification violating AICTE norms. The students are not having practical classes. In some papers especially in electrical engineering the students are getting pass mark without having a single class in the semester.

In paper it shows, both degree and diploma students are using same laboratories in the same day. TIT is having diploma courses in Architecture and Food Processing Technology. But in AICTE records, we found teachers of these two branches are shown at degree level. How AICTE allowed the college to run?” questioned a passed out student of the college.

 Anirban Mitra is a Columnist and writes occasionally on various issues in Newspapers, Magazines. Views expressed are personal.

To send your appreciation and comments pl. send email to editor@tripurainfoway.com or tripurainfoway@gmail.com  or post online below.