Students of the aided courses of PSG College of Arts and Science went on a flash sit-in strike on Sunday following the management's order to vacate the hostel premises. They were told to do so following the management decision to close the college from December 6 to 14. According to M. Thirugnanasambandam, President, Association of University Teachers, PSG CAS Unit, the announcement was made in the morning and students were asked to leave immediately.
Students squatted inside the main gate of the college for almost two hours following the announcement. Police had to intervene and the agitation was called off as those staying in the hostel were given the option to stay back.
M. Abhishek, a final year B. Com. student said: “We had planned for a strike on Monday opposing the government's move to convert the college into a private unitary university. On learning about this, the college management decided to close the college. We will anyway continue with our agitation till the government drops the proposal”.
All teachers' associations had observed a token fast here on December 4 to protest against the government's renewed move to convert PSG Institutions into a private unitary university.
However, K.M. Chinnadurai, principal in-charge of the college, said the college had announced the suspension of classes because there was an instruction from Bharathiar University to do so because of the central valuation of semester papers.
“There is an ISO audit inspection scheduled for Monday and the valuation begins on December 8, so we decided to suspend classes from Monday. However, we have not forced students to leave the hostel.” he added. P. Thirumalvalavan, Registrar of Bharathiar University, said there was no compulsion on the part of the college to close.
“It is a standard letter we issue to all colleges when there is a valuation. Only a few teachers are involved in valuation work, so normal classes are not suspended in toto”. Mr. Thirugnanasambandam said the management had decided to suspend classes till December 14 to avoid trouble during the Chief Minister visit to Coimbatore on December 12 and the select committee meeting scheduled to be held on December 14.
