Staffer’s son refused seat; Stephen’s workers go on strike

St Stephen’s College workers went on strike after a mess worker’s son was refused admission to the Economics (H) course. A report by HT Correspondent.

St Stephen’s College workers went on strike on Friday after a mess worker’s son was refused admission to the Economics (H) course.

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The candidate’s father Girish Chander Singh accused the college administration of not following the past example of admitting staff children. “My son has scored an aggregate of 67 per cent and he appeared for the Economics (H) interview. Though the administration has admitted staff children with less marks in the past, they have rejected my child on the grounds he hasn’t scored too well in mathematics,” said Singh.

In response to the allegation, Economics Department head N Raghunathan said the department was under a lot of pressure this year as there were seven staff children hoping to get through the course.

“In the past we have admitted staff children out of goodwill. But this year it was impossible to absorb all into the Economics (H) course because the pressure was too much. So we decided to take in four candidates who have scored the highest among the seven. I had to draw a line somewhere as I have a responsibility to the rest of the class. I couldn’t have accepted all seven candidates and then expect some of the children to sit on the floor due to lack of space. Moreover, the three candidates who have been left out have scored as low as 45 and 37 per cent in Mathematics. They would have failed in the subject,” he said.

Singh’s son has been advised to take up BA Programme, which he has refused to. HT could not reach Pro tem Administrator MS Frank for his reaction.