The Government Arts College students in Munnar, Kerala can now breathe a sigh of relief after the Director, on Thursday, promised the students to provide an alternative facility within three months time. The indefinite relay hunger strike by the students of the Government Engineering College to protest against the apathy of the government in providing an alternative college facility to the arts college students — who were studying poor conditions at the labs of the engineering college for the past one year — was withdrawn on Thursday.
It was during the floods of August 2018 that the students at the Government Arts College in Munnar lost their only college building. The building was completely destroyed in the landslide due to heavy rain. Although they were given a facility temporarily for a six-month period at the building of the Government Engineering College, where its lab was functioning, the students had to study in poor conditions. Meanwhile, efforts were taken under the leadership of Devikulam MLA S Rajendran and Power Minister M M Mani to shift the children to the Munnar Special Tribunal Court building, nothing practically came into practice.
Fed up with the government inaction towards fulfilling its promise, the students who were protesting against the officials' apathy in providing them better-learning facilities, retreated from their protest. However, the students with the engineering college on Friday had launched an indefinite strike against the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities. As their strike also seemed no solutions, four students with the government engineering college — Albin, Aswanth, Abhijith, Vishnu — started an indefinite relay hunger strike from Tuesday.
However in the meeting convened between CCEK (Centre of Continuing Education Kerala) director P Anitha Dhamayanthi, administrative officer V Shobha, arts college deputy Director D K Satheesh, Engineer Sreekandan Nair, arts college principal in charge Maneesh and Engineering College Principal Jayaraj under the leadership of Devikulam MLA S Rajendran on Thursday decided to provide alternative facility to the students within three months time.
Devikulam MLA S Rajendran told the media persons that as initial step students will be provided alternative college facility. "However a new college building will be provided to them within a year," he said. The students, though, said that even as the minister of Tribal Affairs A K Balan had given permission to provide the Special tribunal court building to the students by the special intervention of power minister M M Mani, the department was not ready to give out the building. "The building has nearly 6 rooms lying vacant. If we were given the building, majority of our issues will be solved," they added.
