Kurukshetra University urges AICTE, Haryana Technical Education Department to intervene

Kurukshetra :
The future of about 600 students enrolled at Geeta Institute of Management and Technology (GITM) at Kanipla village in the district hangs in the balance as the college administration abruptly announced its closure last week.

Sources said Akhil Garg, joint director and promoter of the GITM, issued a letter to the staff and students on August 1, declaring the institute had been shut with immediate effect.

Financial crunch was stated as the cause of closure in the notice. The institute offered MTech, BTech, BBA, MBA and MCA courses. Students submitted representations to the Kurukshetra University (KU) authorities.

Requesting anonymity, a final-year student said there was no one in the college to answer their queries. The students were shocked to know that the management had asked them to get admissions in other institutes ahead of the new academic session, he added.

“The college collected fees for the next semester. Representatives from private institutes in Kurukshetra, Karnal and Yamunanagar districts have started contacting GITM students for admission to their colleges. Some have taken up to Rs 30,000 to secure a seat in the new session,” said another student.

An official said the teaching and non-teaching staff had been asked to put in their papers. “We have not been paid for the last several months and the authorities are unavailable to employees,” said a GITM staffer.

Refusing to comment, Garg said only institute chairman Rakesh Goyal could make any statement on the issue. He refused to share contact details of the chairman.
Principal SP Sharma disconnected the mobile phone when questioned about the fate of students after the institute’s closure.

The KU authorities said the GITM decision was in violation of rules laid down by the All India Council of Technology Education (AICTE).

University’s Dean of Colleges Rajnish Sharma said he had written to the AICTE and Haryana Technical Education Department, asking them to intervene and initiate strict disciplinary action against the GITM.

He clarified that the KU could grant migration certificate to GITM students in case the closure was without approval of the AICTE.

“The college cannot put the future of students in jeopardy with this arbitrary decision. It is mandatory for an institute to submit closure proposal one year ahead of the new academic session. In case of closure, the institute is liable to pay the additional fee which a student has to pay for getting admission in a new college,” he said.

He said security fee of the GITM could be forfeited for not adhering to rules. “It is an emergency wherein students are suffering. If the AICTE and Haryana Technical Education Department allow us, the KU can initiate counselling for GITM students to ensure admission in various institutes this session,” said Sharma.

Rohtak :
A local girl and a police officer from Karnal district accompanying her were shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants near the mini-secretariat here on Wednesday. At least seven bullets were fired at the girl and the police officer.

Rohtak SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said the preliminary investigation indicated that it was a case of "honour killing" as the girl had married a Dalit youth and her parents were not happy with their wedding.

"Four persons have been rounded up for questioning. We have got vital clues and the shooters as well as the conspirators would soon be arrested," he maintained.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case, in which Ramesh, the father of the deceased girl, has been named. Ramesh had adopted the girl, Mamta, from his brother-in-law in 2002.

The Jat girl, who belonged to Rohtak, had eloped with a Dalit youth of Singhpura village in the district last year. They got married and sought police protection, but a scrutiny of their certificates revealed that the girl was a minor.

Following that, the youth was arrested. As the girl refused to go back to her parents, she was sent to a women shelter-home at Karnal. She was brought to Rohtak for a court appearance today.

Sub-Inspector Narender Kumar of Karnal police and a woman constable were accompanying the girl. The girl's mother-in-law Saroj and brother-in-law Dinesh alias Tinku had also come to meet Mamta. They were returning after the court hearing when the incident took place.  

They were in front of the local mini-secretariat near the courts complex when some motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at Mamta. As Sub-Inspector Narender tried to take out his revolver, the assailants fired at him as well.

The girl and the police officer were rushed to the local PGIMS, where they were declared dead by the doctors. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination.
Police investigators as well as forensic experts visited the scene of crime and examined the spot. No arrests had been made till the time of filing this report.
 

Chandigarh :
Jat quota leader Yashpal Malik is firm on relaunching the agitation on the issue on August 16, a day before the start of the monsoon session of the state Assembly.
Malik said on Wednesday that the strategy for the agitation would be planned at Jassia on August 12 after a meeting with the members of the community.

“We have a bhaichara sammelan at Samalkha in Panipat on Thursday, at Gohana in Sonipat on August 10, at Jhajjar on August 11 and at Jassia in Rohtak on August 12 where we will finalise our strategy for the August 16 agitation,” Malik said.
Expressing displeasure over the Haryana Government’s stand on not withdrawing cases against members of the Jat community related to the February 2016 violence, Malik alleged that the government was deliberately delaying these issues in court.
He said that perhaps the state government wants the Jat agitation to take the shape of the Maratha agitation for reservation.

Meanwhile, well-placed sources in the state police maintained that the proposed agitation is unlikely to attract much support this time.

Once the central government has passed the Bill to accord constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, nothing is left for the agitation, said sources.
The sources, however, said that in case the agitators tried to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of the state, they would be dealt with sternly.

“They demanded reservation. The government has already legislated an Act for this purpose. The Act has been struck down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Similarly, they demanded withdrawal of criminal cases. The government has already withdrawn nearly 2,000 out of 2,200-odd cases. However, no government can take back cases of murder or burning of the property of others,” said sources. Sources believe that the support base of quota leaders has depleted considerably after the February 2016 violence and they are unlikely to get support from the masses this time.

Karnal :
Fumed over the delay in payment of sugarcane dues and construction of a new sugar mill, farmers under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union staged a dharna outside the residence of Karnal MP Ashwini Chopra here on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, their dharna outside the Karnal Co-operative Sugar Mill here entered 17th day on Wednesday. In support of their demands, 39 women farmers led by Neelam Rana, district president, women cell of the BKU, courted arrest, while farmers led by BKU state president Rattan Mann staged a dharna outside the residence of Karnal MP.
They submitted a memorandum to the representative of the MP demanding that Chopra should raise the issue of sugarcane farmers in Parliament. Before staging the dharna, they took out a procession in the city. The women farmers protested with bangles in their hands.

Neelam said that they were demanding their payment which was not cleared so far by the government even after three months of the procurement of their sugarcane.
She said that the farmers had been staging dharna for the last 17 days and not even a single MLA had come to meet them. Mann said, “We will continue our fight till we get justice.” Harvinder Kalyan, Gharaunda MLA and HAFED Chairman, said that the government had already released Rs 200 crore for clearing the pending amount of the farmers and paper work for the construction of new sugar mill was underway. Tenders for the new sugar mill would be floated soon, he said.