Students get 2nd chance

Ten days after six students of Pachaiyappa’s College on Poonamallee High Road were arrested after a group clash within the campus over Bus Day celebrations, the other 65 students who were suspended for allegedly joining them in triggering riots inside campus returned to the campus on Monday. 

Following the recent escalation in violence inside and outside the campus, the college management and disciplinary committee had introduced a fresh set of restrictions and held day-long counselling session with the suspended students on Saturday. At the end of the session, the college management decided to reinstate all the suspended students except a handful who did not have adequate attendance. But they have been asked to attend classes from the next semester.  

College management told DTNext , they took the decision to reinstate the students keeping their future in mind. “We have given the suspended students proper counselling in the presence of their parents. Except 10 students, who were detained for one semester due to lack of attendance, all others have been reinstated,” a senior professor at the college said. 

To allay the fears of the parents of the other students, the college management has increased the strength of the disciplinary committee from 15 to 30 and have brought in new rules effective from Monday.  

“The students have to be in the campus before 9.30 am, after which the gates will be closed. No late comers will be allowed. We will also be checking the bags of all the students to prevent weapons and other unnecessary things being carried into the college premises. Moreover, 50 CCTV cameras will be fixed at different places within the campus,” a member of the disciplinary committee said. 

Welcoming the new measures, members of the student community felt that the new rules would eradicate campus violence to a great extent. M Kannan (name changed), a PG student at the institution, said, “It is really a good initiative by the college to fix CCTV cameras in and around the college. Though it affects students’ privacy to an extent, the step can’t be denounced completely. Not all students indulge in unlawful activities, so it will help nab the culprits and to avoid such quarrels in future.” 

Dr S Kaliraj, principal of the institution, said, “Students from our college are doing great in sports and academics too. Two of our students have participated in prestigious zoological and Tamil research programs and they have been awarded first prize. Our NSS students are involved  in service-oriented activities and often conduct blood donation camps and help traffic police at signals. The college hockey and Kabaddi teams have won national-level competitions in the past. Unfortunately, only the negative news about our college is getting noticed, it will change soon.”