Gandhi Memorial Museum which used to be one of the favourite haunts of students preparing for various competitive examinations wears a deserted look these days.
Its Curator and Administrative Officer K.R. Nanda Rao said that such students have been barred from using the campus as they never followed house rules. He told The Hindu on Sunday that police officials, on September 13, had prevented large gathering of students, who were protesting against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.
“The students do not understand the enormity of a potential law and order problem when we spoke to them last Thursday. When we asked them to leave, they questioned the authority, saying the museum was a tourist spot,” Mr. Nanda Rao said.
The major complaints against students are: they litter the place with plastic bags; they do not use the public toilets properly; they often wash their lunch boxes with precious drinking water.
“We request the Corporation to supply water every day, even in these days of water shortage. We ask our workers to clear the plastic waste. They litter the place and waste water. We did try to inculcate good habits in them but to no avail,” he said.
But P. Kannan, one of the students who uses the facility to prepare for competitive examinations, said: “Most of us who use the Gandhi Museum campus cannot pay the costly fees of study centres. Boys and girls who assemble here discuss subject matters and make it a group study session. We also share expensive study material among us,” he said.
The free facilities on the campus proved to be a boon for all of them. But some anti-social elements had tainted the image of all students, he said.
He suggested that two representative bodies - one from the authorities and one from students - could discuss matters and arrive at a solution so that students could continue to use the museum campus.
