The State Government has constituted a high-level committee to inquire into the suicide of Acharya Nagarjuna University architecture student Rishiteswari in her hostel room on July 14. The committee will be headed by retired IAS officer Balasubrahmanyam and have Vikram Simhapuri University vice-chancellor Prof. Veeraiah, Prof. Balakrishnama Naidu of Sri Venkateswara University and Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswavidyalayam registrar P. Vijaya Lakshmi as members.
In the orders issued on Monday, the Government has asked the committee to submit its report in five days. The report should include an assessment of the action taken in the issue besides recommending further action to be taken in the specific case. Recommendations should also be made to prevent occurrence of such incidents in the future, the order said.
With the suicide catching the attention of the entire state, Minister for Human Resource Development Ganta Srinivasa Rao used the platform of the vice-chancellors’ conference in Tirupati to assert that the government would crack the whip on those resorting to ragging or other forms of harassment on college campuses.
The death of Rishiteswari found its echo at the conference on the Sri Venkateswara University campus with the minister asking the heads of varsities to act tough to rid universities of ragging-free. The meeting sought to initiate steps not only to prevent ragging of girl students, but also harassment of women staff members.
Addressing the media, the minister made it clear that unauthorised occupants, such as students and research scholars overstaying in hostels after the completion of their tenure, would be flushed out to restore tranquillity on campuses. The VCs’ meeting, in a resolution, fixed August 31 as the deadline to rid hostels of such elements and for forming disciplinary committees at the hostel level.
The minister also unveiled a plan to introduce closed circuit TV cameras and biometric system to keep tabs on visitors to campus hostels. “Students would be issued bar-coded identity cards,” he added. Placing further curbs on the entry of outsiders into campuses, Mr. Srinivasa Rao also announced that the university auditoria would not be rented out for private functions and events.
He appealed to vice-chancellors to take crucial decisions to maintain the academic ambience.
Plus, campus hostels will have CCTV cameras keeping a watch
