BENGALURU: Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Friday urged the State Government to suspend the Ballari deputy commissioner for allegedly asking college students to vacate the hostel after they protested against poor quality food served in the hostel.
The Deputy Commissioner ordered action against students who protested outside his residence in Ballari on Thursday night, he said. Siddaramaiah termed the officer’s action shocking. The students were thrown out of the hostel for protesting near the DC’s house at 10 pm, he said. “The DC should have appreciated the students for bringing the issue to his notice and taken corrective measures. Instead, he issued an order to evict them from the hostel.
By now, the government should have suspended the DC for his inhuman act,” the former chief minister said Instead of urging the chief minister to suspend the officer, Sriramulu asked the students to tender an apology. “If the minister cannot ensure that students from his community get good quality food in the hostel, how can he ensure justice for poor people in the state,” the Badami MLA questioned.
“The government must immediately suspend the DC, District Social Welfare Officer and all other officials for punishing the students and order a probe,” he said.
The district minister who failed to protect students’ interests should be dropped from the Cabinet and the government should apologise to the students, he added.
Siddaramaiah also said officials in Ballari and Vijayanagar districts have written to the Bommai-led BJP State Government over not getting adequate grants to provide scholarships and other benefits to students from SC/ST and Minority communities.