Students protest in Ludhiana as 3 Canadian colleges, agents yet to refund fee

The students said their study visas were refused but their fees were never refunded as per the policy.

A number of students, who were allegedly deceived by agents, have been running from pillar to post to get their education fees refunded from three Canadian colleges and the agents concerned since a long time, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says. 

The students said their study visas were refused but their fees were never refunded as per the policy.

A group of such students staged a protest outside the IDP Education office at Feroze Gandhi Market, Ludhiana, recently, demanding their full fees be refunded at the earliest

The students said they were facing a lot of mental stress as their fees were not being refunded despite repeated demands. They said around Rs 9 lakh or even more as education fees was paid by each student to different colleges of Montreal in Canada

The students said hundreds of students had applied for study visas in three colleges of Montreal in Canada in 2020.

The students said their visa applications were earlier delayed amid the Covid-19 pandemic but later, their applications were refused.

One of the protesting students, Deepak, said: “Many agents had made a large number of students apply for admission in three colleges of Montreal and were earniing huge commission. These colleges were later banned by the government. 

The students said their parents had taken a study loan to send them abroad and it is even difficult to return loan instalments now. “Around two years have passed since we applied for a study visa in 2020. There is a threat to our career as our study is getting affected. I had deposited around Rs 9 lakh fees for the admission in a college of Montreal. I and my parents are facing mental harassment as fees are not being refunded”. 

The students said they have met with a number of politicians and officials regarding the issue but to no avail. A student, Sukhwinder Singh, said: “The students are facing mental harassment. We demand from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to take necessary steps so that we can get our fees back at the earliest.”

**********************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here