Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Students of School of Law called off their 14-day long protest on Friday after Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) vice-chancellor Prof Renu Jain gave in to their demand and removed Archana Ranka from headship’s post.
Citing an ongoing inquiry against Ranka, the VC removed her from headship and gave charge of the department to Prof VB Gupta till further orders.
An order undersigned by registrar Ajay Verma reads, “A committee has been constituted to probe into complaints lodged by the students regarding Ranka’s behaviour and other problems in the department. For ensuring a fair investigation into the matter, the charge of School of Law is handed over to Gupta in place of Ranka till further orders.”
The move comes two days after the students gave a complaint in writing to the inquiry committee that Ranka had contacted their parents and allegedly built pressure on them for calling off the stir.
“Moved by the complaint, the inquiry committee had reportedly asked the VC to remove Ranka from headship until the probe is completed,” the sources said.
Soon after the order for removing Ranka from headship's post was issued, the students ended their 14-day-long protest which had started after Ranka denied permission to students to hold an event on the campus.
Ranka had denied the permission for the event citing an order by the VC, but the issue snowballed and the students started baying for her blood, claiming that she mistreats them.
When the goalpost changed
The who’s who of the university tried to convince the students to give up their protest, but they did not budge. Last Saturday, the university finally sent Ranka on forced leave and constituted a five-member committee to probe the allegations against her.
Dubbing this move a cover-up for Ranka, the students changed the goalpost and started seeking the VC’s resignation.
However, the students gave up their demand for the VC’s resignation on Thursday and went back to their initial demand for Ranka’s resignation.
Good sense finally prevailed: ABVP
Welcoming the VC’s move of removing Ranka from headship, ABVP senior leader Ghanshyam Singh Patel, who was leading the student's protest, said that “finally good sense prevailed.”
“I don’t know why the university took so many days to remove Ranka but all is well if it ends well,” he said.
Ghanshyam threatened to go on a protest again if Ranka were reappointed as head of the School of Law again.
