After almost a month of protests by the students of Karve Institute of Social Service (KIoSS), a civil court in Pune has passed a mediation for the students and institute to find a middle ground.
“From the very beginning itself, we wanted to have a dialogue between the students and the management. But despite constant efforts, we have failed to establish that,” said Sandeep Barve, KIoSS alumni and secretary of Yuvak Kranti Dal.
On August 16, Shivkumar Maddirala, secretary of the institute, had filed a petition against the students for trespassing the premises to continue their protests. This was followed by the first hearing on August 24 and eventually on September 18, under judge SK Chaudhary, where the court passed a mediation asking the institute and students to resolve the issue through dialogue by the next hearing on October 6.
Although the students and alumni are supportive of the move, some continue to have their doubts.
“On August 12, we had joined the students in solidarity and met the director to sort out the issue. However, the director informed us that the issue was out of his hand, and solely a management concern. Since then, we have been pursuing the management, but in vain,” Barve said.
{{/usCountry}}“On August 12, we had joined the students in solidarity and met the director to sort out the issue. However, the director informed us that the issue was out of his hand, and solely a management concern. Since then, we have been pursuing the management, but in vain,” Barve said.
{{/usCountry}}After the alumni and student intimation, chairman of managing committee Sadanand Deshpande organised a meeting with the management, on August 21, to begin the dialogue. Students and alumni said that this was a ray of hope for them. But eventually, the management came out with a court notice on the same day against the students accusing them of trespassing. “That completely contradicted the previous attempts for a dialogue,” added Barve.
A current KIoSS student added, “The issue is being stretched for no reason. The management, in spite of our continued requests and explanations on the need for accommodation, continue to turn a blind eye to our problems. An institute is made up of its students and their interests should come first. But, that is not the case here.”
According to Barve, this institute has always boasted a liberal atmosphere. There have been protests in earlier batches which reach the stage of dialogue with the director and get solved. This is the first time that an issue has been handled so badly. It is as if the management has made this an ego issue after they were forced to reduce the college fees, making them loose almost ₹10 lakh of anticipated profit. Such behaviour is causing decay to the reputation of such an illustrious institute.”
In solidarity to the issue, the students and alumni had marched from Ambedkar hall till Social Welfare office to share their issue with the concerned authorities there. Barve added, “Funds for the institute comes from this office and they need to know whats happening. The authorities there have agreed to help us.”
“If the college management does not settle for a dialogue, then we will have to resort to rigorous protest in which we would then have to involve political influence. Although, we are still against it,” he said.
“The law suit was filed by the trust for injunction as the students, through their protests, were hampering the property of the trust and creating nuisance. Now the court has passed a mediation for both the parties to establish a dialogue and we are looking forward to it ,” said Ojas Deolankar of KS Legal Advocates and Associates, representing the institute.