A piquant situation has arisen with a Government college – which has officially been shifted from one location – functioning from two places in the district.
Furthermore, the move has divided students, teachers and people along political lines. One group of teachers and students function from where it has been shifted to and a larger group stays put at the original location.
The college in question is Government First Grade College in Kaniyoor in Puttur taluk which was been shifted to Belandur barely 2.5 km away.
Classes at Belandur began from June 23 but many students and teachers either refused to move or “have been forced to stay back”, as alleged by a rival group. When The Hindu visited Belandur on Wednesday, 13 students, 11 first year students and two final year students, were seen on the premises with three teachers – two guests and one deputed from Government First Grade College, Jadekal, Puttur.
The Principal of the college Raghava N., who functions from Kaniyoor, said that S. Angara, MLA of Sullia constituency, was the head of the 20-member College Development Committee. Unless directed by the MLA, Mr. Raghava would not shift the college and he added that Mr. Angara was opposed to the idea.
He said that 129 out of the total 150 students in the college attend at Kaniyoor.
The two premises of the college, which offers Arts and Commerce courses, are located on the Puttur-Kukke Subrahmanya Road, which falls in Puttur taluk but under the Sullia Assembly constituency.
The move to shift has divided the people along political party lines. A Congress-backed group wants the college in Belandur, under the Belandur Gram Panchayat. Another group backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to retain it in Kaniyoor, under the Kaniyoor gram panchayat.
At Kaniyoor, it functions from the premises of a government higher primary school with some classes conducted at a private building in front of the school. The shifted college too functions on the premises of a government higher primary school from makeshift rooms in Belandur.
Siddaramu, Joint Director of Collegiate Education, Mangalore region, said a release on Wednesday that the college has “ceased to exist” in Kaniyoor as ordered by the Deputy Commissioner.
