CHENNAI: One year after an engineering faculty killed himself after alleged harassment from a private college, neither his family nor other faculty members have found redemption. The college had withheld the academic certificates of T Vasanthavannan, even after he sought resignation.
Friends and family members had told Express that, members of the management even threatened to physically assault him when he insisted on his certificates being returned to him.
His death had sent ripples across the country, creating a national sensation. However, neither did his family members received any financial compensation from the college, nor are other teachers protected against such harassment. Anil Saharsabuddhe, the chairman of All India Council for Technical Education had told Express that the council may withdraw its approval if colleges withhold faculty certificates after verification.
Investigating his death, the council had commissioned a forensic report regarding signature on appointment letter from the private college. Apart from asking for the forensic report, the council remarked in a report, "After hearing both sides (Parent of deceased and institution representatives), committee is of the opinion that Late Mr T Vasanthavannan might have been some health issues, however it appears that, the institute also has harassed him by not giving his education qualification
certificates (sic),"
Despite the finding, the private engineering college has faced no departmental consequence and has not been directed by any regulatory body to provide compensation to the victim's family.
Weeks after Vasanthavannan's death, regulatory authorities including AICTE and many universities issued circulars, warning colleges to not withhold faculty's certificates. Anna University, took it a step
further and sent a letter to heads of all affiliated institutions, asking them to submit a status report by December 17, 2018, after returning any certificate a college might be holding back.
The All India Private Educational Institution Associations challenged this circular, which also directed all its affiliated college to return certificates of the teaching and non-teaching staff immediately after verification. The Court ruled in favour of the the private colleges.
It ruled that private engineering colleges are entitled to have in their custody the original education certificates of their staff that want to stay in the job.
Following this, the Anna University revised the circular and said that the chairman and principal of every institution should ensure that original certificates of faculty members are returned to them whenever they "resign and are relieved" from the college.
Many faculty members told Express that institutions barely accept resignation letters, leaving no paper trail of their requests to quit their job. So proving that a staff had indeed submitted his or her resignation, does not seem plausible for many.
KM Karthik of All India Private College Employees Union said very few colleges have returned their staff's documents despite repeated warnings from Anna University and AICTE even after the death of
Vasanthavannan. "Ultimately it is the private owners that are winning and the victims and public do not have any justice," he said.