Students of Mahatma Gandhi University's Institute of Integrated Programmes and Research in Basic Sciences (IIRBS) in Kerala are striking in front of the Vice Chancellor's office, protesting the dismissal of the institute's cooks. The students say that the institute hadn't been paying the cooks their salaries for a while. As many as 40 of them are striking right now.
Three months ago, the same students had alleged a massive fund crunch and said that the university wasn't paying its faculty and staff their salaries. The institute also did not have proper water and electricity connection. At that time, the university's Vice-Chancellor Dr Sabu Thomas had promised a prompt action and that the institute's director only has to write to him. However, the students say that three months later, the situation has only worsened.
"For the past two months, the cooks and the mess staff haven't been receiving salaries. They told us that they'll take an apt decision on Tuesday," says Albert Chris, a II year integrated Dual Degree BSc – MSc Interdisciplinary Programme student. "We still do not have teachers. Classes are not going on here. All the equipment has failed too," he says.
On top of that, the students have also allegedly been asked to vacate the hostels soon, citing fund cut. "The university has enough money to construct new buildings and start new courses. At the same time, our institute has been ignored throughout," says Albert.
We have reached out to the university's Vice Chancellor for a comment. This copy will be updated once he responds.
