THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘’The government should issue a GO,’’ say the authorities of College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET) in despair. Now, their only hope is the government. It should soon issue a government order (GO) which will allow the college authorities to implement the proposals submitted by them to the government - the only option to solve the issues faced by the college, say the college authorities.
For many years, the activities in the college hostel had led to tragedies in the college. Till the recent mishap, where Thansi Bhasheer, a third year civil engineering student died after being mowed down by a jeep driven by her collegemate during Onam celebrations, the hostel was completely run by the students. “Now, as an interim set-up, a committee has been constituted to manage the hostel. It consists of eight members - four teachers and four student representatives. But this interim set-up can’t be continued for long as it does not have legal backing. Owing to some incident that happened in the past, there is an order issued by the then Education Minister which has entrusted the management of the hostels to the students. As long as this specific order stands, whatever steps we take will not have a legal backing. The government should cancel this order and issue an GO in this regard,” said J David, principal, CET. According to him, there are around 2,600 students in the college. Only 800 hostel seats are available for both girls and boys. “As many as 350 seats are available for first year male engineering students in the hostels. They get admitted in the first year and continue there till they complete their course. Since the managing men’s hostel does not come under the purview of the college, these students assume a bigger status and hence such ramifications. If this single proposal - to admit only first year students - gets sanction from the government, 90 per cent of the problems could be solved,” he pointed out.
It is learnt that even the bills submitted on account of any expenses of the hostel goes unaudited.
Explaining further, the principal said the council of the college also demanded a police aid post in front of the college. Besides, the construction of a compound wall around the college was stuck for the past two years. “Its construction is scuttled by legal hassles and we have sought help from the government and the District Collector. What the college authorities could is to install CCTV at the college gate and the hostel gate and also a lever gate. We will do that in two months,” he said. There was a ban on four-wheelers inside the college, now it has been extended to the hostel too. An inquiry is on. Though the college authorities have asked the students to identify the students involved in the accident from the CCTV footage, the response of the students was negative. “We can’t force students,” said the principal.
MLA’s Suggestions
Meanwhile, K Sabarinath MLA, also an alumnus of CET, backed the suggestion that there should be a police aid post outside the main campus. “Hostels should be freed from outside elements. There should be a provost/teaching and non-teaching staff who is responsible for discipline,” he said. The MLA also pointed out that all major celebrations should be manned by a committee that has representation of all - union, teaching, non- teaching etc. “It will bring in a camaraderie and will foster the true spirit of any festival. In the CET case, each political party had their own celebration and tried to outdo the other, resulting in this fiasco. The college can have smaller department-level celebration but only one major celebration under the aegis of the entire college,” he clarified. Besides, the students should exercise self -restraint, Sabarinath added.