For an institution named after the great Tamil poet, Bharathiar, and one that aspired to become a multi-art institution on the lines of the Kalakshetra, the Bharathiar Palkalaikoodam (BPK) finds itself mired in a sorry state of affairs.
Founded as one of the city’s prestigious institutions in 1988 that would devote itself to the study of arts, the BPK’s woes include mal-administration and poor patronage from government authorities.
The institution started conducting certificate courses in music, dance, fine arts, painting and sculpture. Then it upgraded itself as an institution which offers degree courses in those streams and later also began to offer five-year integrated courses. In 1997, BPK commenced its new journey on its sprawling 11 acre-campus in Ariyankuppam.
The students of the institution have been agitating for the past several weeks against the poor management of institution and some of them have gone to the extent of demanding that the management either reverse the state of affairs urgently or issue them transfer certificates so that they can pursue the education in some other college.
Even though All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE) had directed the authorities to appoint a full-time Principal, the institution is still being run without a full-time Principal for several years. The teaching and non-teaching faculties are bogged down in litigation related to their services, and some of them have resorted to the courts alleging that their peers are unqualified.
Sharing her own experience, Jayalalakhsmi Narayanan, former Principal who is a disciple of Kalashetra, recounted that a section of the faculty had accused her of not having appropriate qualification to be a principal. “Due to utter frustration, I had to come out of the organisation.”
Even though there are abundant job opportunities for the students who pass out of the institute, the institute management is not keen to encourage enrolment or start new post-graduate courses.
A senior professor in BPK on condition of anonymity said the prestigious institution is slowly dying due to poor patronage of government and maladministration of authorities. “The students who pass out of the institution have no opportunity to pursue the Master degree courses in the same institution. They have to go prestigious institutions situated elsewhere,” he said.
However the authorities claim that the teaching faculties are not showing any interest to improve the institution.
For students, learning about art here is an everyday struggle with scant facilities.
A dance student said, “There is no proper class room or dressing room for us. The dressing room is very dusty and the staff assigned to keep the place clean are not doing their job properly. The wiring is so bad that some students have reported getting electric shock from the wall of the room.”
A student of sculpture said, “It is a pity to see that our creative works are lying around without due care.”
Glass windows of class-room buildings that were damaged in the Thane cyclone in 2011 are still is disrepair. There is water leakage too on the building as well. Toilets do not have proper bolts.
According to a faculty member, a recent inspection by a top official had noted that though there are sufficient number of gardeners in the BPK the place is not properly maintained.
Work on roofs of structures that need to be renewed have not been taken up for lack of funds. The music block is yet to have the roof and first floor repaired to avoid leakage. Work on establishing a library/ administration block was started but was later suspended.
Education Minister T.Thiagarajan said, “We are in the process of appointing a principal to the institution. Very soon the appointment will be made. Steps will be taken to set things right.”
