THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Students of College of Fine Arts in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday ‘made the most’ of the institution’s golden jubilee celebrations and highlighted their plight before the ministers who arrived on the campus to attend the event.
The students have been facing a severe water crisis on the campus. Grabbing the chance, they protested with buckets and posters demanding a solution as the ministers reached the college.
Upon noticing the stir, minister and Thiruvananthapuram MLA Antony Raju went up to the students and held a discussion with them.
Raju assured the students that sufficient funds will be allocated from the MLA fund to resolve the crisis. He said funds will be released as soon as an estimate is prepared based on the proposal submitted by the institution.
Higher Education Minister R Bindu also assured them of resolving the water supply crisis. Bindu said that funds will also be made available from the technical education department to deal with other infrastructure issues of the college. She also informed the students that a ministerial-level meeting of the director of technical education, representatives of the college union and the PTA, teaching and non-teaching staff will be chaired in the coming days.
The meeting will discuss in detail the development needs of the college as well as the demands of the students, the minister added.
While speaking at the inaugural function later, Bindu lauded the students for bringing their demands to the government’s attention. She added that the students of Fine Arts College, who are tomorrow’s artists, have demonstrated their social commitment and responsiveness to burning issues through their intervention.
A representative of the college student union said the institution has been facing infrastructure woes due to lack of own funds for development works.
The water scarcity, that has been a long-pending issue, had aggravated over the past one week, forcing students to stage a protest in front of the minister, the union representative added.