Thiruvananthapuram: The vice-chancellors of the universities in the state have termed the report of the Meenakshi Gopinath committee on ‘Gender justice on campuses’ as exaggerated.
A meeting of the governing council of the Kerala State Higher Education Council, which had set up the committee, discussed the report here on Tuesday. The report had alleged that women were being victimized on campuses.
KSHEC vice-chairman T. P. Sreenivasan told reporters that the VCs had opined that the restrictions on the timing in women’s hostels were as per the wishes of the parents.
The parents were for security more than freedom. The VCs also informed the meeting that the parents wanted their girls to return to the hostel before 5.30 p.m.
They were not concerned by the fact that the boy’s hostel remained open till 9 p.m. helping them to spend more time in the library and laboratory, Mr Sreenivasan said.
However, MG University PVC Dr Sheena Shukkur, convener of the committee, said that the views of the VCs were not acceptable.
The view of the committee was that there should be uniformity in the time allowed to both boys and girls to stay out of hostels.
It was for the authorities to ensure the safety of girls even if they remained in libraries and laboratories for an extended period, Ms Shukkur said.
Mr P. Anver, member secretary of KSHEC, said that the first instalment of Rs 110 crore due from RUSA would be made available by next week.
As per RUSA programme, eight universities would together get Rs 20 crore each and 15 government colleges Rs 2 crore each.
