Coimbatore: In an unprecedented move, the Coimbatore police booked vice-chancellor of Bharathiar University A Ganapathy under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act 2015 on Monday night.
The FIR was registered in the Vadavalli police station based on a complaint from a dalit woman who alleged that the university was refusing to grant her a post-doctoral fellowship. N Srilakshmi Prabha of Navavur in Coimbatore has been waging a battle against the university authorities since 2016 when she was denied the post of assistant professor. Her husband, who was working as a contract driver in the university for more than a decade, was sacked recently allegedly due to misconduct.
Police said they have registered an FIR based on the complaint, but are yet to ascertain the facts. "The vice chancellor is not in the city. Once he returns we will conduct an inquiry," said a police officer. Ganapathy was not available for comment, but university registrar (in-charge) B Vanitha and syndicate members, in two separate statements, defended the vice-chancellor.
"This is to attract public sympathy and to misuse the law. This is completely false to scandalise the image of the university and vice-chancellor," said registrar Vanitha in her statement.
Srilakshmi, however, said the university authorities were attempting to cover up the irregularities in appointments. She alleged the university denied posting under the SC (women) quota though she had better credentials than other applicants. In 2016, she had applied for the post of assistant professor in the biotechnology department, where she completed her PhD.
The root of her tussle with the institution was in 1986 when land was acquired for construction of the university. Her father-in-law's land was acquired and in return a job was promised for one person from the family. "Neither did the university keep up that promise nor did it follow quota norms," she alleged. Her driver husband was also sacked from the job.
She has approached the Madras high court against the university on the grounds of violating quota norms. It was in this backdrop she alleged that the post-doctoral fellowship was also denied.
"The university authorities intentionally scuttled my post-doctoral fellowship application owing to personal motives since I challenged the assistant professor recruitment in 2016," said Srilakshmi. She said in the police complaint that the VC had prevented her from entering his cabin due to her caste. On July 29, she shot a complaint to the National Commission for Schedule Castes also in this regard.
But Vanitha said there was no violation of norms in the receruitment. The university had released an advertisement with a specific requirement of 'Specialization in the subject immunology' with bio-chemistry backround as recommended by the HoD of biotechnology to handle the specialised courses. "She didn't meet this requirement," Vanitha said. Members of BU syndicate said Srilakshmi was levelling false charges against the V-C.
The FIR was registered in the Vadavalli police station based on a complaint from a dalit woman who alleged that the university was refusing to grant her a post-doctoral fellowship. N Srilakshmi Prabha of Navavur in Coimbatore has been waging a battle against the university authorities since 2016 when she was denied the post of assistant professor. Her husband, who was working as a contract driver in the university for more than a decade, was sacked recently allegedly due to misconduct.
Police said they have registered an FIR based on the complaint, but are yet to ascertain the facts. "The vice chancellor is not in the city. Once he returns we will conduct an inquiry," said a police officer. Ganapathy was not available for comment, but university registrar (in-charge) B Vanitha and syndicate members, in two separate statements, defended the vice-chancellor.
"This is to attract public sympathy and to misuse the law. This is completely false to scandalise the image of the university and vice-chancellor," said registrar Vanitha in her statement.
Srilakshmi, however, said the university authorities were attempting to cover up the irregularities in appointments. She alleged the university denied posting under the SC (women) quota though she had better credentials than other applicants. In 2016, she had applied for the post of assistant professor in the biotechnology department, where she completed her PhD.
The root of her tussle with the institution was in 1986 when land was acquired for construction of the university. Her father-in-law's land was acquired and in return a job was promised for one person from the family. "Neither did the university keep up that promise nor did it follow quota norms," she alleged. Her driver husband was also sacked from the job.
She has approached the Madras high court against the university on the grounds of violating quota norms. It was in this backdrop she alleged that the post-doctoral fellowship was also denied.
"The university authorities intentionally scuttled my post-doctoral fellowship application owing to personal motives since I challenged the assistant professor recruitment in 2016," said Srilakshmi. She said in the police complaint that the VC had prevented her from entering his cabin due to her caste. On July 29, she shot a complaint to the National Commission for Schedule Castes also in this regard.
But Vanitha said there was no violation of norms in the receruitment. The university had released an advertisement with a specific requirement of 'Specialization in the subject immunology' with bio-chemistry backround as recommended by the HoD of biotechnology to handle the specialised courses. "She didn't meet this requirement," Vanitha said. Members of BU syndicate said Srilakshmi was levelling false charges against the V-C.
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