Port Blair, Sept 28: The Communist Party of India (Marxist)CPI (M) A & N State Organising Committee observes with grave concern the re-launching of the agitation by students of DBRAIT, Port Blair from 26th September, 2022, as it came to know, disheartened by the act of non-keeping of the promises made in the so-called agreement reached between a section of students, A & N Administration and the Pondicherry University on 15th September, 2022 based on which the students had ended their agitation. The students are of the opinion that they have been cheated by the authorities and a section of political leaders who assured the students that their demands have been agreed to. When the students later on realized that they have been deceived by the local politicians belonging to the party ruling at the centre and the A & N Administration, they wanted to ventilate their grievances and resumed agitation organizing mass dharna in front of the DBRAIT at Dollygunj.
When the jubilation by local leaders of BJP and ABVP over the agreement with the students was going on immediately after the so-called agreement on 15th September, 2022, CPI(M) was of the firm view that that the 17 conditions imposed by the Pondicherry University had not still been implemented. This fact has been hid from the students by all concerned and subsequently the students have felt as being betrayed by the A & N Administration, the Pondicherry University officials and the local BJP politicians by their act of not resolving the issues, but presenting a version before them which was not factually correct. Shri D. Ayyappan, Secretary, CPI (M) A & N State Organising Committee on 17th September, 2022 had requested the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration to reveal the details of the agreement/consensus reached between A & N Administration, Pondicherry University and aggrieved students and the details of the fulfillment of the 17 conditions initially imposed by the Pondicherry University for conditional affiliation, by issuing a press statement in the local media so that the people will know the facts relating to the above issue. However, there was no response and the contents of the agreement reached with the students by the A & N Administration have not been revealed to general public so far.
CPI (M) notes that instead of responding to the shortcomings in the running of engineering courses in DBRAIT pointed out by the Pondicherry University, the BJP government at the centre and A & N Administration had approached the Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta by filing a Writ Petition against the Pondicherry University which is still pending for a final decision. This step on the part of the A & N Administration, with the blessings of government at the Centre, is unjustified, unethical, uncalled for and violating all the administrative jurisprudence and made with malafide intention to protect the interests of certain persons at the cost of students. The central government at the centre utterly failed to resolve the instant issue and is trying to enforce its policy of commercialization of higher education through whatever means available like establishment of the so-called Deemed University in the islands.The resumption of the agitation by the students created road block in the town for several hours today, causing inconvenience to thousands of people including hundreds of school students.
CPI (M) calls upon the central government to intervene in the matter and take immediate steps to resolve the issue in the light of the 17 shortcomings pointed out by the Pondicherry University to have a permanent solution considering the future of hundreds of students studying in the DBRAIT, Port Blair and also to end the on-going agitation by the students.
