The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Handiwork of outsiders, says Vice-Chancellor

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Handiwork of outsiders, says Vice-Chancellor

By Our Special Correspondent

CUDDALORE, NOV. 23. The Annamalai University Vice-Chancellor, L.B. Venkatrangan, today said "violence perpetrated on the campus should have been the handiwork of outsiders who could not tolerate the exponential growth of the institution, which had recently celebrated the platinum jubilee, and who are bent on bringing disrepute to it."

The campus saw violence in the early hours of today following the death of a third-year engineering student, G. Sivasakthi, due to brain fever.

Addressing a press conference at Chidambaram, Mr. Venkatrangan said stones used in the incident were certainly not found on the campus. If some students were involved, they should have been driven by the "mob mentality." Mr. Venkatrangan said damage to property was estimated at Rs. 5 lakhs. However, no penal action would be taken against the students who might have unwittingly indulged in the violence.

"Our aim is to put the students on the right path, and not to punish them for their lapses." A meeting would be held with the parents to drive home the point that the university was primarily interested in the career of their wards, and therefore, they should ask them to concentrate on their studies.

A decision on the reopening date of the university, which was closed following the violence, would be taken soon.

The Vice-Chancellor said there were 14 hostels and 20 mess units in the university with modern amenities, including water treatment devices. He said recently some girl students of Rose Illam suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, either because of contaminated water or because they ate food outside.

But they were given the best possible treatment at the Rajah Muthiah Medical College Hospital, and about 80 per cent of them returned to the hostel soon after taking medicines.

Health care panel

Mr. Venkatrangan said a "health care committee" was constituted to check the quality of water and food served in hostels. All overhead tanks were being chlorinated once in a fortnight. As for the treatment given in the hospital, 10 zonal coordinators were appointed to oversee the services in all sections.

Road roko

Meanwhile, though the body of Sivasakthi was taken to his native place Chozhatharam, near Sethiathope, last evening, the funeral is yet to take place.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Dalit Panthers of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India staged a road roko today, objecting to the funeral without a post-mortem being done to ascertain the "real cause of death."

Over 100 fellow students gathered in the village to attend the funeral. But the CPI(M), led by the Cuddalore district secretary, S. Dhanasekaran, and the DPI by Tamil Selvan, laid down four conditions for the funeral.

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