Hyderabad Central University (HCU) authorities have decided to act tough against students consuming alcohol and smoking on campus in the light of the recent incident where a second year Integrated course student, Mohini Misra, died after falling from the fourth floor of a building under construction late on Sunday night.
Though the reasons behind her death are yet to emerge, the university authorities feel that late night parties in the vast expanse of the campus are leading to rising alcoholism, and sometimes resulting in unfortunate incidents.
HCU Registrar B. Raja Shekhar said that the university was serious in implementing the existing norms with regard to alcoholism, smoking and drugs. “We are reiterating our stand on saying ‘no’ to alcohol,” Prof. Raja Shekhar affirmed.
Meanwhile, rumours doing rounds on the campus that the new restrictions would come into place in the girls hostels and that the gates would be closed sharp at 12 midnight.
“Why these restrictions only for girl students. Why this bias. Is it curfew for girls?” were some of the angry comments posted by girl students on the university Facebook account.
However, the HCU Registrar denied any such move. . “We have constituted a five-member committee to suggest safety norms to be adopted on campus. ,” Prof. Raja Shekhar said.
Separately, a Proctorial Board consisting of Chief Proctor is also conducting an enquiry into the incident.
Prof. Raja Shekhar also said that several areas frequented by the students late in the night have been identified and they are being advised not to visit them. Security too has been beefed up at such places to discourage students from going to such spots.
