THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The indefinite strike carried out by students of the Institute of Journalism at Thiruvananthapuram Press Club alleging lack of facilities and learning materials has been temporarily called off on Wednesday after Press Club President M Radhakrishnan assured to resolve the issues within June 15. The students said that they will resume the strike if the facilities are not provided within this deadline.
The press club managing committee convened a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter. The students have been protesting since May 27 demanding facilities like computers, cameras and studio rooms at the institution. At present, a total of 40 students are studying here.
“We have been asking the management to provide basic learning materials like computers, cameras and a full-fledged studio. In addition, the chairs and the classrooms are in pathetic condition. The air conditioning is not working and the books have not been updated for the past year. Moreover, the institute’s director John Mary has been terminated and a new director Sibi Kattampalli has been appointed. However, the press club president has promised us to provide all the facilities before June 15. So we are waiting for that, “said Shahin Akel, a student of the institute.
Earlier, the students had alleged that the president intimidated them in his office while submitting the petition on behalf of the students. They also alleged that the press club managing committee terminated John Mary for supporting the students.
As per the petition, the students have not been getting any facilities in the institute even after paying the whole fee. It said that the institute has provided only two cameras and a computer to study editing. Though the then director of the institute John Mary tried to provide them with 10 computers with the help of private companies, it has not been made available so far. The cleaning staff are also on leave as their salaries are not paid, the petition stated. The student union organisations like AISF, SFI, KSU and ABVP expressed their solidarity with the protest. The newly formed managing committee had earlier said that the Institute of Journalism would be upgraded as a premium journalism institute.