Saphena Women's Dental College and Hospital (SWDCH) in the capital has been closed since September 1 due to student protests.
The unrest began as students demanded addressing 21 demands related to their academic and financial concerns. As of September 4, the protesters have reduced their demands to four primary issues.
Protesting students called for a monthly allowance of Tk 20,000 for each intern doctor.
In addition, they are demanding adherence to Health Ministry fee structures, improvements to the college's educational and clinical infrastructure and the removal of individuals implicated in unethical and fraudulent practices.
Tension escalated following two meetings between the students and college authorities held on August 25 and August 31, which, according to the protesters, did not resolve their concerns.
While the college administration claims to have met 20 of the students' demands, they have rejected the proposal of Tk 20,000 as monthly allowance.
Intern Dr Prianka Chakraborty alleged that on August 31, the hospital authorities forcibly discharged patients and locked the hospital to shift the blame on students' unrest.
"The college authorities issued a notice on September 1 announcing an indefinite closure. In response, we placed locks on the authorities' locks on the gates to prevent further action," Dr Chakraborty said.
The students have since held demonstrations in the vicinity of the college and hospital.
Dr Chakraborty also accused the administration of financial mismanagement, alleging that the college collects intern fees during admission but does not provide corresponding allowances during the internship period.
"We paid Tk 1,20,000 as intern fees during admission, that is students of last two sessions paid Tk 1,80,000 each. The fee breakdown is unclear, and the college authorities are refusing to pay intern allowance," she said.
Asked, SWDCH's Acting Principal Prof Dr Kazi Ziaul Islam said that the students who did not pay the intern fees are now demanding payment of internship allowance.
"The government has set the intern fee at Tk 10,000 for each month. If students did not pay the fee, how can we pay Tk 20,000 as monthly allowance?" said Prof Ziaul Islam.
He said that many guardians requested not to pay the intern fees upfront, expecting reimbursement during the internship period, a compromise the college accepted due to financial constraints of the guardians.
Prof Ziaul Islam said, "We expect to reopen the college next week and requested students to remain patient until the Health Ministry's investigation ends."
But, the protesting intern doctors and students said they will not return to classes and duties until their demand for payment of monthly allowances is met.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has formed a committee to investigate into the allegations.
SWDCH is affiliated to Dhaka University, and the university's Medicine Faculty oversees the academic aspects of the college.
Medicine Faculty Dean Dr Shahriar Nabi said he was aware of the student demonstrations but clarified that the issue is administrative rather than academic.
"Our role focuses on academic matters. The Ministry is handling the administrative concerns and has already formed a committee to address them," Dr Nabi told the Daily Observer on Friday night.
