Thiruvananthapuram: The Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) has asked the Governor to immediately remove CUSAT Interim Vice-Chancellor Dr. PG Sankaran from his post for neglecting to implement the High Court order containing guidelines for organizing student events on university campuses and to direct the government to conduct a judicial inquiry into the conduct of the Tech Fest that resulted in the death of four students.
The directions of the High Court came after the death of an engineering student from Nilambur during a vehicle rally organized by the students as part of Onam celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram Government Engineering College in 2015. In 2015, the government had also directed to strictly implement the order in all universities and colleges. In previous years in CUSAT too, programs were organized in the campus under the supervision of teachers appointed by the VC as per these guidelines.
But no such guidelines were followed at the recent Tech Fest in CUSAT. The other day, VC assigned the task of investigating the causes of the accident to the Youth welfare director PK Baby, who was responsible for co-ordinating the students’ programs. This was like making a mockery of the public. Instead of giving the responsibility of supervision of the fest to the senior university teachers like in the past, the VC and student organization leaders were given the full responsibility of management.
The former University Union Chairman of CUSAT, PK Baby, who was appointed as Director of Youth Welfare on a non-teaching post, was appointed as an Associate Professor last month on a special order of the government with a salary of Rs. 2 lakh. This had evoked a lot of controversy. It is the first time in the state that a person appointed to a non-teaching post was being paid at the UGC level. With the support of a minister from Kochi, he has now been appointed as a syndicate member of CUSAT. Earlier the Save University Campaign Committee had asked the Chief Minister to immediately suspend Youth Welfare Director and the coordinator of the Tech fest, PK Baby pending investigation into the tragedy in CUSAT.
Had the High Court order of 2015 been followed, the tragedy that occurred in CUSAT on Saturday evening could have been avoided. The Vice-Chancellor was not willing to comply with the conditions of presence of teachers to supervise the programs and the use of police and retired army personnel for rescue duties.
In the petition, the governor has been asked to remove the temporary VC who showed gross negligence, to conduct a judicial inquiry into the accident at CUSAT and to direct the government to provide financial assistance to the deceased and those affected by the accident.
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