COIMBATORE: Following complaints of abusing inmates, district collector Kranthi Kumar Pati relieved the 53-year-old warden of the Adi Dravidar Boys Hostel at Thondamuthur near Pollachi from service. The cook Somu was also relieved from service.
A new warden, Thirumurthy, was appointed to take care of the 22 high school students of the hostel. A three-member team headed by the Pollachi Sub Collector S Priyanka is probing the incident, said sources.
P Suresh, district adi Dravidian and tribal welfare officer told TNIE, “Based on a complaint, we inspected the hostel and conducted an inquiry with the students, following which we found that poor quality food was provided in the hostel. Rice was served only with rasam instead of poriyal and sambar. Apart from that, drinking water tanks and toilets were not maintained properly.”
“As per norms, students should be handled softly. However, the warden Palaniswamy had allegedly assaulted some students who did not follow his instructions properly. We have started a departmental inquiry and will get more clarifications about the complaints against him in the coming days,” he added.
MP Ranjan Kumar SC wing president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, who visited the hostel after he received complaints from the relatives of the students, alleged that warden Palaniswami forced the students to clean toilets and one of the students injured his hand after acid spilt.
“I have sent a petition to the district collector and the secretary of the Adi Dravidar welfare department on Monday demanding action against the warden. I have also sent a petition to the Coimbatore SP asking him to register a case against Palaniswami under the POCSO Act as he harassed the students by asking them to sing movie songs during weekends,” he added. However, according to sources, police are yet to register a case.