Besides, they are now persona non grata at academic and administrative bodies like the Dental Council of India (DCI), the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences and the Directorate of Medical Education (DME). Reason? Admissions secured by 16 of them were in excess of the college's management quota for the year 1998-99.

The stranded students say the management cheated them by not informing them about such essential details as management quota intake. To get admitted, each of the students coughed up sums ranging between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. Plus `local taxes'.

The college management gave no thought to the students' careers and instead ``harassed'' them for money, they maintain.

``We have deposited Rs 1.5 lakh as `caution fees' which the management claims is refundable'', a student said.

Acollege having an annual intake of 60 can fill on its own not more than nine seats allowed under the NRI/management quota. In other words, it was to have admitted only nine students for the academic year 1998-99. Instead, it admitted 25 candidates.

``Each of us now have been told that you are one among those admitted as part of the intake'', a student revealed. According to him, even this strategy is earning the college management some extra cash.

That is not all. Each of the students had to go through an `agent' who charged them Rs 1 lakh or more to secure an `excess' seat in the college.The immediate seniors of the 25 students haven't had an easy time either. They are on an indefinite strike, condemning the management for its failure to get their admissions approved. In their batch too, the college admitted 50 students as against the intake limit of nine students.

``We could not appear for last year's exams as our admissions were not regularised. This year, the exams are fast approaching and we havenot heard anything from the management. We will not end our agitation till our admissions are regularised'', a section of the students said.