College ruckus: CM Pramod Sawant puts ball in education department’s court

PANAJI: Refusing to comment on the recent incident where Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members barged into St Xavier’s College, Mapusa, and disrupted classes, chief minister Pramod Sawant said that it is for the department for higher education to speak on the issue.
Meanwhile, North Goa collector Mamu Hage said she will seek a report from the Bardez mamlatdar on the disruption of classes at the college by the RSS-affiliated student organisation.
“The director of higher education is handling the matter,” said Sawant when reporters asked for his views about the ruckus.
Members of ABVP barged into the college campus on Saturday and proceeded to disrupt classes due to a delay in constituting the student’s council. The incident occurred just a week after the ABVP’s zonal organising secretary Devdutt Joshi met with the chief minister to discuss the RSS-affiliated body’s “upcoming events” in Goa.
When reporters asked Hage about the incident, the collector said she was aware of it. “The issue has not directly been flagged to me, but I have updates from the mamlatdar. I will seek a report from the mamlatdar as to what the incident was,” said Hage.
Student groups and the faculty of St Xavier’s College have urged the state government to act against the students. NCP’s national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said Sawant must take “serious cognisance of shameful act” as it could set a wrong precedent.