For the last week, students of Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur have been protesting against their administration for various reasons. However, perhaps the thing that bothers them the most is the fact that when they step out of the campus to seek employment or internships, nobody seems to believe that they are students of RGNIYD. And this is because the logo of their college apparently keeps changing every few years!
The institute's previous logo was the National Emblem. The students say that the Institute had no idea it was illegal to use the the emblem till very recently, after which they changed it. "Our alumni told us that they were facing a lot of problems in the job application process because their employers were questioning the authenticity of their certificates. Every now and then the Institute changes the logo, why would anyone believe us?" a student questioned.
They added they've been waiting for their IDs for the last four months because the administration is "confused" about the logo. To top it all, the mark sheets are allegedly printed on A4 sheets, "It's embarrassing for us to even show the mark sheets outside. The people who come to study here are from across the country who come here thinking that it's a prestigious institution and then we have nothing to show for it," the student said.
Five students have also been suspended in the last few days for a protest they had a few months ago. Ironically, the students were protesting for longer library hours and had succeeded in securing their demands. Yet, months later, the students were suspended. However, this isn't the worst part. The worst part is that the students have nowhere to go with their issues since the institute hasn't had a director for nine months. The director-in-charge sits in Delhi as he works for the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports and has no connection with the students. According to the students, the Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore, President of India and the Executive Council of RGNIYD are yet to form the basic 3-member Search Committee to appoint a new director. The students claim that nearly 50-60 proposals have been sent for the appointment but the committee has not responded to them.
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Not just the director's position, among the six courses that are run at the institute, one department is run by just one single professor and the others only have about two or three faculty members. The students told Edex, that many of the professors are forced to teach two three subjects because of staff shortage. "The people heading our departments are only assistant professors, they're not qualified enough to run departments," a student added.
When the students approach the administration with concerns, they claim that the officials are constantly passing the buck and no one wants to help. The students also face a huge problem when it comes to placements because well, no placements have been taking place in the last few years. Since the institute has very specific courses the students need to have a proper placement system in place. "The administration says they are facing a fund crunch but we doubt that is the reason," he said.
The students have been protesting for eight days straight and have been boycotting all their classes.They say these issues are their top priorities but they are facing problems with other basic facilities on campus too.
