PESHAWAR, Oct 2: The students of the Gomal Medical College (GMC) staged a sit-in and observed a token hunger strike here on Wednesday against the decision of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) not to give the GMC affiliation.

A large number of students gathered on the Fort Road and went to the Governor’s House in the shape of a procession and blocked the road for some time.

Later, the students set up a hunger strike camp and raised slogans against the government for its failure to provide necessary facilities to the GMC, which were mandatory for the affiliation of the institution with the PMDC.

Speaking on the occasion, the students said that the college was being run without its own building and its premises had been shifted three times since its establishment.

The college lacked proper laboratory and it was being run without sufficient teaching staff, they alleged.

There were 200 students in the GMC and 100 students were studying on self-finance basis after paying Rs200,000 each, they said and vowed to continue their protest till the acceptance of their demands.

Meanwhile, the Parents Action Committee has expressed deep concern over the Pakistan Medical and Dental College (PMDC) refusal to affiliate the Saidu Medical College (SMC) with it.

At a press conference here on Wednesday, the parents of the SMC students, said that when the college had been established four years ago the government had promised to provide all facilities which were mandatory for the affiliation of the institution with the PMDC.

The college administration, they said, had adopted the same procedure which the Kyber Medical College and Ayub Medical College had adopted for the admissions and when the students were about to finish their studies, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s refusal to grant the college affiliation, had put the students in a very difficult situation.