KOCHI: Students of the School of Engineering (SoE) at Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) have gone public, seeking attention from the university authorities regarding various issues that have been plaguing the department over the years. The students highlighted various issues, including how the principal and the faculty members were made scapegoats in the stampede case instead of the engineering works department of the university.
“We have launched a signature campaign seeking reinstatement of the principal and the two teachers. We have gathered nearly 1,000 signatures so far and expect to reach 2,000 in the next 2-3 days.We also want the FIRs to be quashed. We strongly support the principal and the faculty members. The university has been making false promises for a long time, and no concrete decisions have been made yet,” the students told TNIE.
“The university had promised to reinstate him after inquiry. Instead, he was greeted with FIRs. Dr Deepak Sahoo is going to retire next year. We don’t want to see a good man who has been putting the needs of the students and the institution first suffer such humiliation. We don’t want his career to end with a demotion,” said the students of SoE.
As for Dr Biju, the treasurer, and Dr Gireesh, the coordinator of the event, they were forced to take up the responsibility of conducting the event, the students added. “The teachers had successfully conducted the event four times previously.
The teachers had done everything by the book. They had sent letters seeking police control for the event to the registrar. However, they were blamed for not adhering to rules. It was the job of the engineering works department to ensure that the amphitheatre was safe and not the faculty,” they said.
But the department officials were not held accountable, they added. Another serious matter that has been brought to light is the lack of enough permanent faculty members at SoE. “All the faculty appointments at SoE happened between the late 90s and early 2000s. A majority of them have reached retirement age. The university is not hiring permanent faculty to replace those who have retired. If the trend continues, the SoE will only have guest lecturers,” said the students.