ABVP questions CUK's ₹40 lakh car buy for VC, says students should be the priority, not luxury

Kasaragod: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student outfit of the RSS, took out a protest march and staged a dharna at the Vice-Chancellor's office at the Central University of Kerala (CUK), accusing the administration of prioritising its own luxuries over students' basic needs.

The RSS's student wing alleged that while students were denied basic facilities, the university spent ₹40 lakh on a new car for Vice-Chancellor Prof Siddu P Algur and on renovating the newly built administrative building.

"This premier educational institution is unable to provide basic facilities to students but has ₹40 lakh to spare for a luxury car for the VC," said Jayaraj Bhat, ABVP's CUK unit president and a state committee member. He said even state universities had better campus facilities than the Central University of Kerala. To be sure, the Central University is funded by the Union government, run by the BJP.

The protesters questioned the university over the lack of adequate mess facilities, study tables and laboratory infrastructure. The posters and placards they carried asked: 'Where are the mess facilities?', 'Where are our study tables?' and 'Why is luxury your priority?'

The ABVP also demanded stable Wi-Fi connectivity and round-the-clock functioning of the university's on-campus health centre.

The protest was called off after Proctor Prof Sreekumar P assured the students that their demands would be looked into.
ABVP unit committee members Vicky Kumar, Anjana Lakshmi, Krishnan and Manish Shetty led the protest.