Few days ago, an image of a circular of regressive rules for girls of a popular college near Chennai went viral online and received much attention, mostly in the form of indignation and severe criticism. While the college, Sri Sai Ram Engineering College, had then denied the circular was issued, the students of the college have now stepped out of in protest.
About 50 students of the college protested against the management near the Anna University campus and were later detained by the Kotturpuram police and moved to a marriage hall on Tuesday morning.
The protesting students blame the college in-charge and warden Mr. Balu for their woes. They say that he does not have any educational qualification but is responsible for enforcing all the rules.
They also demand that Mr. Balu and the floor supervisors must be removed from their posts to stop the harassment faced by the girl students in the campus.
The student has requested the media and government to take serious actions against the college authorities.
An anonymous student said that the college has called up their parents and told them that they will be terminated from the college for the protest. The college has announced that it will remained closed till futher orders.
Few days ago, one of the students who was rusticated from the college for having arrears in ten subjects, put up a post on Facebook a note about the stringent laws followed in the college. He talked of an incident in which students had to pay a fine of Rs. 5000 for distributing sweets inside a classroom. The notice also states that the students were fined Rs. 500 for having a French-beard, Rs. 1000 fine for playing with a ball inside the room and Rs.10,000 for writing their names on the college hostel.
Talking about how the girls and boys are not even allowed to talk outside the campus, the student states an incident when a boy and a girl were caught together in Tambaram station, their ID cards seized and they had to face serious consequences by the management.
Aswin Balasubramanian, an alumnus of the Sri Sai Ram Engineering College said in another Facebook post, “It is a college where having an account in social networking site is a crime (particularly for girls). It is also the college where growing long hairs is considered to be informal. It is also the college where modern clothing is considered to be a social stigma.”
Denying all the allegations against the college medieval, Dr. K. Maran, Professor and Director, Sri Sai Ram Institute said that the management does not have any idea about the protest and the college is functioning as usual.
However, the Sri Sai Ram Engineering College has officially announced on their website that the college will be closed till further orders are given.