Kochi: Protest is brewing on Maharaja’s College campus as autonomy is bestowed on it by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with the students’ organizations training their guns on the Principal Dr Varghese Abraham for shrouding the proceedings in mystery and not taking students into confidence in policy matters.
Both KSU district president Titto Antony and SFI state secretariat member Aneesh M Mathew came down heavily on the Principal for his style of functioning. “It was almost a month after he received the UGC letter that he revealed that autonomy has been granted. The Principal is pushing the agenda of autonomy which will literally lead to the privatization of the prestigious college in the state. We are not going to allow it and all sorts of agitations will be unleashed in the name of Maharaja’s College Protection Council to retain the original status,” said Aneesh.
Titto Antony said the demand to include a student in the college council has not been met. “The Principal is not transparent. He is not making the details about autonomy public. This is giving a lot of confusion about the status of Maharaja’s College. Some say that its autonomy is different from what is given to St Teresa’s, SH and Rajagiri. He has to be more straight and clear,” said Titto.
Aneesh said that privaisation of the campus is the agenda being pushed through autonomy route. “After autonomy is granted, SC/ST students will lose reservation and merit in admission and valuation will be sabotaged. Nowhere autonomy has become successful, even in neighbouring Tamil Nadu,” Aneesh said. Titto said that the state government too has to clarify doubts regarding the concept of autonomy.
Left-oriented teachers organization Association of Kerala Government College Teachers (AKGCT) too is against the autonomy move. “The move is aimed at privatization of the campus and that is why we are against it,” said AKGCT district committee member and Maharaja’s College teacher Muhammed Rafeeq.
