Accusing Vice-Chancellor (VC) Meena Chandavarkar and Registrar S.A. Kazi of Karnataka State Women’s University of being prejudiced against Dalit guest lecturers, the district unit Karnataka State Dalit Sangharsha Samiti took out a protest rally at the University premises in Bijapur on Wednesday.
In a release, the members said that both the VC and the Registrar had deliberately dropped several guest lecturers of the Dalit community and appointed others in their place.
Stating that these lecturers were in service for the last five years, the release said the move has caused dismay and anxiety to the affected lecturers and their families.
Taking exception to the defence of the VC who said the University has appointed guest lecturers based only on merit, the Samiti said if the Dalit lecturers had no merit, they should not have been appointed as guest lecturers in the first place.
The Samiti defended the lecturers saying they possessed the required eligibility, having served in the academia for nearly 10 years.
The decision of the VC and the Registrar gave clear room for suspicion of some irregularity or partiality, the release said.
Demanding the immediate reinstatement of the lecturers, the Samiti threatened to intensify the agitation and hold ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ rally to bring the matter to the notice of Governor of Karnataka.
