969 foreign students who were selected for the Indian council for cultural relations (ICCR) scholarship and were asked to report for admission for the academic year 2014-15 in various colleges in Bangalore. ICCR confirmed them about this through emails. On receipt of this confirmation, all these foreign students from various countries reported to ICCR, Bangalore. However, they have now been told by #ICCR #Delhi that no admission of foreign student will happen in Bangalore and they have to take admission in the Institutes in Hyderabad. No explanation was given for this change. The students are not willing to go to Hyderabad as they were confirmed for admissions in Bangalore. This u-turn by ICCR is highly unjustifiable and reflects poorly on the nation. All these students are still in Bangalore waiting for the admission there.
It appears that an officer in ICCR, namely Ms Lesley Jacob, All India SPD has blockaded all ICCR funded foreign students from securing admissions in Bangalore. Before being posted at Delhi, she was the Regional Director of ICCR, Hyderabad and for some unknown reasons she is now arbitrarily diverting all the international student traffic to Institutions in Hyderabad. We request you to investigate this act of official malfeasance of any possible official misconduct.
Dr Sarala Unnikrishna, Regional Director, ICCR Bangalore is of no help. She has stated that the Bangalore University has not furnished the details of fee structure for the various courses to be undertaken by ICCR scholars. This is not true. When we contacted the Higher Officials of Bangalore University, they stated that the University has furnished every necessary detail long back and are ready to admit students at the last year fee structure.
The Government of India spends a lot of money to create goodwill internationally to fund education of students from around the world. But if this is the manner in which the officialdom inflicts pain on the student community and every point of contact with ICCR officials becomes a point not of facilitation but of harassment, then it is a sad day for all of us.
#ABVP Demands urgent intervention in the matter to undo the harm already caused by certain officials of ICCR to reverse this arbitrary decision and provide relief to the international students who were originally promised admission in Bangalore by ICCR itself.
Thanking you,
T S Sunil Prasad
State Secretary,
ABVP Karnataka