CHENNAI: Traffic on the city’s IT Corridor came to a grinding halt for more than an hour on Friday, after students of Central Polytechnic College at Tharamani blocked the road. They were protesting against an Anna University of Technology proposal to construct its campus on 25 acres of land belonging to the polytechnic.
The students reportedly went on a rampage on campus, breaking glass panes and pulling down signboards of the technical university. It has been running PG courses on the polytechnic campus for the past seven months temporarily till the government allotted them land. The students alleged that the university had occupied a major portion of the infrastructure, including the auditorium, seminar hall and 10 classrooms. “If they come here, where will we go? Already they have occupied our classrooms,” a student said. He added that students would go on strike again if the government failed to address the issue. Police were caught unawares as the students started their protest suddenly. It took them more than an hour to pacify the students.
The protest was sparked by a report published in Tamil daily Dinamani on the proposed plan of the Anna University of Technology to build a study centre on college land. It had suggested the government provide 25 acres of polytechnic land rather than
allotting 100 acres in Kancheepuram. Students said that if the proposal was accepted, the polytechnic would be shifted to Kancheepuram causing hardship to thousands of students living in Chennai hostels. A college faculty told Express that 3,600 students were studying in the polytechnic and most of them came from poor families. “If the government decides to shift the campus, how will poor students manage to reach there every day,” he asked. C. Thangaraj, the first Vice-Chancellor of Anna University of Technology, denied reports that the university has requested 25 acre of land on CPT college campus. He said that the university would be setting up its campus on the land allotted by the government anywhere in and around the city. “Moreover, we need 100-150 acres of land and the college campus will not be sufficient.”
K Sundarmurthi, Principal of Central Polytechnic College, said that a meeting was held by Kumar Jayanth, Commissioner of Technical Education, soon after the protest, with the administration. He said the Commissioner has assured that the college land would not go to the university. However, “the issue is genuine and we have convinced students to avoid anymore protests,” he added.