A month after the principal of Maharani's Arts College for Women registered complaints with State Commission for Women and the High Ground police against a contractor, who was allegedly running the canteen and staying with his family on the campus illegally, officials from the commission and the police visited the premises on Monday and assured immediate action.
According to B. Renuka, principal of the college, tenders for a mobile canteen inside the college, are called every year. In 2016-17, a man named Kumar got the contract and set up the canteen for a few months after which he was replaced by Naveen Kumar, who claimed to be the former's relative.
“Naveen also got his family to the campus where they have been living ever since. The next year, Naveen did not win the tender, but continued to run the canteen. This was repeated in the subsequent year too,” she said, adding that Naveen did everything to stay put, including filing numerous RTI queries with regard to the college.
When Ms. Renuka took charge four months ago, she requested him to vacate, but he allegedly started harassing her and the teaching staff.
“He entered the exam room and disturbed the students. He would walk into my chamber and start making allegations against me and other teachers. He kept provoking us. We registered a complaint with the women's commission on June 5 and the very next day went to the police. We have also written to the Education Department,” she said, adding that the safety of students is also at risk if the man continues to stay on the campus.
Stating that the police have been asking to probe the complaint and submit a report, Nagalakshmi Bai, Chairperson, Women's Commission, said, “We will take action based on the report.”
Ravi Shankar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, said, “We are looking into the case. Naveen Kumar has been running the canteen illegally after failing to get the contract twice. Based on the investigation, we will take appropriate action.”
