APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University sets up grievance redressal cell in varsity
Thiruvananthapuram: APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University has appointed a Grievance and Redressal Cell for addressing complaints of students. The creation of a legal entity comes in the wake of mounting complaints from students in self-financing engineering colleges in the state. The appointment was made as per the recommendation of the search committee appointed by the government on the issue.
Search committee consisted of retired chief secretary Nalini Netto and former higher education principal secretary B. Sreenivas. Dr V. Praseedalekshmi, a former principal of engineering colleges under Cooperative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE) will head the cell as joint director. The students can submit their grievances on the email:redress@ktu.edu.in or telephone number 0471-2785608. Earlier, various people had criticised the delay in setting up a grievance redressal cell for all colleges affiliated to the university even after the meeting of university board of governors on January 11 decided to appoint an ombudsman.
The plan for an ombudsman was announced by the APJ university on January 17 in the wake of the suicide of engineering student Jishnu Pranoy of Nehru Engineering College, Pambadi, Pal-akkad, alleging harassment by the management. The AICTE (Establishment of Mechanism for Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012 has also called for setting up an ombudsman. As per the regulations, a person who has been a judge not below the rank of a district judge or a retired professor having not less than 10 years of teaching experience can be appointed ombudsman.
The appointment has to be made from a panel of names suggested by a search committee appointed for this purpose. As per the AICTE regulations, the ombudsman will have the power to hear any grievance of any student against the university or against any college affiliated to it after the student has availed himself of the grievance redressal mechanism in the college concerned.
