DEHRADUN: Teacher and hostel warden accused of seeking undue favours from female students in Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant Institute of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar has been granted clean chit by the university administration.
Tej Pratap, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the institution said, "The teacher has been attached to an institution in Almora. He has not been found guilty of sexual harassment. However, the acts by him are condemnable."
The student in her complaint on October 21, 2019 stated that he had sent her a text message at midnight wishing her on her birthday. He then rang her up and said ‘my wife is not home, who will cook, you come’.
“This issue was raised by the girl before VC at the University Disciplinary Committee meeting held in October. Since no written complaint was filed by her, no action was taken against the accused,” said Dr Salil Tewari, Dean of Student Welfare, Pant University to Hindustan Times.
Governor Baby Rani Maurya had taken cognisance of the allegation levelled by the student against the professor and had also instructed university authorities to ensure that a safe environment is provided to all female students of Pant University.
The institution has already been in controversy for some time now.
Allegations of ragging by third-year students of BSc (Agriculture) of first-year students have also appeared. However, the administration has denied ragging charges and said that they were just having an "introduction session".
The administration has slapped a fine of Rs 1000 each on three students and warned them not to repeat any such instance.