CUSAT tragedy: Petition filed by Save University Campaign Committee to Governor over VC's dismissal
The Save University Campaign Committee has filed a complaint to Governor Arif Muhammad Khan demanding the dismissal of the Vice Chancellor of CUSAT for allegedly failing to provide security in the stampede during the Tech Fest at the CUSAT campus
FollowKochi: The Save University Campaign Committee has filed a complaint to Governor Arif Muhammad Khan demanding the dismissal of the Vice Chancellor of CUSAT for allegedly failing to provide security in the stampede during the Tech Fest at the CUSAT campus. The complaint states that the Vice Chancellor has violated the High Court's order to hold the celebration.
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The complaint demanded that the VC Dr PG Sankaran had committed a default and should be immediately removed from his post. In the petition, the governor was requested to direct the government to conduct a judicial inquiry into the conduct of the tech fest that resulted in the death of four students and to recommend financial assistance to the families of the deceased and the injured.
The High Court issued directives in 2015 following the death of an engineering student from Nilambur during a vehicle rally organized by students as part of Onam celebrations at Thiruvananthapuram Government Engineering College. The government issued a directive to rigorously implement the order in all universities and colleges.
According to Save University campaign workers, programs were organized on the campus under the supervision of teachers assigned by the VC in previous years in CUSAT. However, no such guidelines were followed at the recent Tech Fest in Cusat. They also alleged that the VC tasked the P K Baby, director of youth welfare to investigate the causes of the accident.
The students also alleged that the teachers were given the responsibility of holding tech fest every year. However, the VC was not ready to comply with the condition that the teachers should be presnet to supervise the programs and the services of the police and retired soldiers should be used for rescue duties. The Save University Campaign Committee said in a statement that if the High Court order of 2015 had been followed, the tragedy that occurred in CUSAT would have been avoided.
