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Vested interests interfering in varsity affairs Monday, July 16, 2001

By Radha Sharma, The Times of India News Service
AHMEDABAD: In his 25-year-long illustrious career as a senior academician and as principal of H.A. Commerce College, not once did C.B. Raval have to suffer such humiliation at the hands of wayward students.

He was obviously in for a rude shock on Thursday when a bunch of rowdies roughed him up and slapped him right in the middle of the college campus!

Here, some with vested interests may want to dismiss this as a violent act by agitated leaders to ensure that all colleges downed their shutters and conform to the bandh call given to protest against the police excesses on the students of homeopathy colleges of North Gujarat University. But the fact is that the students were actually out to settle scores.

"Their main grouse was why the college had refused to concede to their demands to transfer a few Gujarati medium students to English medium. College policy demands that for such transfer, the student should atleast have 65 per cent marks in English. How on earth could we have relented and transferred students with lesser marks?", says Raval.

The 60-year-old Raval confesses to have been badly hit on the shoulder and instinctively nurses the wound at the mere mention of the physical assault on him.

But did the NSUI not claim that they were forced to ransack the college as authorities resisted to close down? "It is all nonsense. Our college had not even begun, so where was the question of arguing over closing it down?" questions Raval.

One is not surprised as student leaders in the GU campus have increasingly got habituated to the principals and college managements granting favours like admitting recommended students, giving mid-term admissions, etc. and buy peace.

For those who refuse, they know what to expect: A group of rowdy boys creating a riot, breaking furniture and once in a while breaking the jaw of the principal himself.

Ask Dharamsinh Desai Commerce College principal, Nadiad M K Trivedi who was punched on the face with a knuckle-duster not so long ago by a group of student leaders led by an MLA for refusing admission to a relative.

Or J D Acharya of C U Shah Arts College who was manhandled by a self-proclaimed student leader for refusing admission. Even the police initially refused to file a complaint fearing the leader's political connections!

It is well-known that for Rs 8,000, student leaders can get you admission to what is known in GU circles as the 'super six' colleges - H A Commerce College, H L Commerce College, Navgujarat, L J College of Commerce, H K Arts College and the C U Shah College. Lesser known colleges are cheaper, with admissions available between Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000.

"The system actually works because each year has a share of gullible students hitting the campus who gladly run into the arms of sympathetic student leaders who promise them a seat in the college of their choice", points out a senior GU official.

Take the case of one Jyotsna who had scored 81 per cent in HSC (general). Given the extraordinarily high result declared this year, she was led to believe that she stood no chance in getting admission in H L, H A Commerce Colleges or other reputed colleges unless she took favour of the clout enjoyed by student leaders.

Insecure as she was, Jyotsna counted upon the leaders and willingly handed over her marksheet to them. Two days back, she did get admission in H A Commerce College but through the centralised process for left-out students who could not get admission anywhere because of low marks!

"Jyotsna is not an isolated case. There are atleast eight students with above 76 per cent marks who have been referred to us by the GU as left-out students. What pains here is that all of them could have easily got admission in our college on the first day itself on merit-basis", Raval says.

Only on Friday, the GU, encouraged by co-operation promised by the state government and police department, has drawn a comprehensive plan to thwart any more violent incidents on the campus.

"But managements themselves have been widely known to use the student bodies to gain political one up-manship in the university. Unless they give up on this and put up a united front, this violence menace is bound to come again," points out a senior GU academician.

News Source : Times Of India News Service [ Lightning News ]

 

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