Students of Government Law College, Vellore, on Thursday took out a rally demanding the authorities concerned to open a new building constructed for the college.
According to sources, the college was opened in 2008 and functioned from a small building near the silk mill area in Katpadi. After a long wait, a new sprawling complex was constructed for the college at a cost of about Rs.7.5 crore. Though construction of the building was completed more than six months ago, the building had not been inaugurated.
Students, on February 2, staged a protest at the college urging the authorities to immediately inaugurate the new building. They once again began a sit-in protest on February 28, which continued till Thursday.
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The rally on Thursday culminated at the Collectorate where the students spoke to Collector C.A. Raman, who assured them of prompt action. However, the protest continued till evening.
S. Siranjeevi, one of the protesters, said, “There are no facilities in the old building. It was only a temporary arrangement made to inaugurate the college in 2008. As our college doesn’t have a building, first year admission remains restricted to 80 and the total college strength, 240. The existing building is not sufficient to handle even this strength. Hence, second and third year students are forced to take classes in the morning and first year students, in the afternoon. We believe former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was supposed to inaugurate the new building through video conferencing. That didn’t happen. Even after her death, there has been no sign of any inauguration plan.”