Violence breaks out on TN campuses

CHENNAI: Protests erupted on the campuses of two deemed universities in TN on Tuesday and a few others hurriedly declared long holidays and shut down hostels fearing a stormy reaction from students, a day after the Union government informed the Supreme Court that 44 deemed universities, 16 of them in Tamil Nadu, would be derecognised.
Student protests – like at Saveetha School of Engineering in Thandalam and on Meenakshi University campus at Mangadu — were fuelled not just by apprehensions over their future but due to an embittered atmosphere generated by the lack of amenities.

THANJAVUR: A day after violence broke out on campuses of two deemed universities in Chennai, unrest spread to Thanjavur with students of the Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology University (Prist University) going on a rampage. On Wednesday, students pelted stones at the college building at Vallam, near Thanjavur, broke furniture and destroyed the booth for security personnel at the entrance of the college.
In Chennai, the campus of Vels University similarly witnessed some tense scenes before authorities declared a holiday to defuse the situation. PRIST and Vels are among 44 educational institutions likely to lose their deemed university status, as per the recommendations of a union HRD ministry-appointed panel.

The Prist management had convened a meeting with students to assure them that their studies would not be affected by the government decision. The students, however, walked out of the meeting and gathered in front of the building. In an attempt to prevent them from walking out of the campus, the authorities reportedly shut the main door of the college, which enraged the students.