How safe are students at Noida’s Shiv Nadar? Higher edu director wants answers
The varsity has been given three days to respond, said officials in the know of the matter. A show cause notice will be served to the varsity by the government in case the answers are not satisfactor
The regional director of higher education on Monday wrote to Shiv Nadar University asking them for a detailed reply in connection with the murder and suicide of two students on the campus last week and the safety of students on campus.
The varsity has been given three days to respond, said officials in the know of the matter. A show cause notice will be served to the varsity by the government in case the answers are not satisfactory, they added.
On Thursday afternoon, after shooting dead a third-year woman student, her male classmate ran back to the hostel and shot himself dead, police said.
In a letter sent to the varsity in the wake of the incident, Dr RK Gupta, regional director of higher education, has sought answers regarding the safety of students on campus.
In his letter to the varsity, he has asked five questions. “Had the female student informed any kind of harassment by the other student to the university administration in the past? What action was taken by the women harassment committee constituted in the university? What has been done to prevent a student living in hostel in the university from possessing arms? Has action been taken? What efforts have been made by the university so that these incidents do not recur in future?”
His letter further said that after learning about the incident, the department is concerned about the safety of students on the campus.
“Until now, the foremost concern of the higher education department was regarding ragging of students on the campus. There are several guidelines and rules regarding ragging on university campus. However, this incident is unprecedented, where a student has carried a gun inside the campus and killed another student in broad daylight, and later managed to kill himself as well inside the hostel,” he said.
“These kind of incidents can recur so we need to tighten up the security. It has come to light that the girl had made some complaints with the varsity management and we want to know what did the university do if the matter was reported by the girl,” Gupta said.
He further said a show cause notice will be served to the varsity by the department of education, Uttar Pradesh, in case the answers are not satisfactory.
“We want a detailed report regarding the shooting incident within three days, so that the government can be informed and further course of action taken. The department of education, government of Uttar Pradesh is highly concerned with the incident and has directed officials to take stock of the situation”, the regional director said.
A spokesperson of Shiv Nadar University responded, “The university has received a questionnaire from the regional higher education officer, Madhavpuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, and will answer it in due course.”
Earlier on Friday, an FIR was registered against the deceased student for possessing illegal weapon under relevant sections of the Arms Act. Officers investigating the source of the procurement of the gun suspect that the student bought it when he had gone to his home town Amroha about a month ago.
