Row over warden8217;s appointment

CHANDIGARH, Sept 3: A controversy has erupted in the SGGS College, Sector 26, with a section of students asking for the appointment of a ...

CHANDIGARH, Sept 3: A controversy has erupted in the SGGS College, Sector 26, with a section of students asking for the appointment of a regular teacher as warden in their college hostel. They are protesting the appointment of a retired junior commissioned Army officer who is acting as their warden.

Principal of the college, P. S. Sanga, when contacted said they had appointed a teacher for the post of warden previously who had later been removed. A retired Subedar Major was then appointed the hostel superintendent. Officially, he is only a hostel superintendent and not the warden, he said.

The controversy over the warden has come to light as students resented some of the recent actions of the warden. Earlier, the incident of police entry into the hostel had also resulted in considerable tension in the college. Surinder Singh Kukku, president of the NSUI unit at the SGGS College today issued a press statement asking for the removal of the warden.

Students say that all City colleges have a regular teacher as the warden, but their college was the only college, apart from the GGS College, Sector 26, where this practice was not being followed. Prior to this appointment, college teachers were appointed wardens on the basis of rotation.

Sanga on the other hand justifies his appointment, saying that the students were complaining with an eye on the elections to the students council. He gave credit to the warden for improving the sanitary conditions and the food quality in the mess. Moreover, the hostel houses students from the SGGS College, College of Pharmacy and the SGGS School, he added.

Apprehending trouble from the students, the college recently circulated a notice stating that certain students aligned with political parties were trying to disrupt the functioning with a view to instigating them to agitate.