Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the allegations of harassment of three senior lady lecturers of Ravenshaw University by senior faculty members, The Congress today sought the intervention of the Governor into the case.
A 12-member Congress delegation, led by the PCC vice president Suresh Mohapatra, met Governor SC Jamir at Raj Bhawan in the capital city and submitted a memorandum in this connection and demanded stern action against those who have harassed these lady lecturers.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Mohapatra said the three lady teachers had brought harassment charges against the male faculties and brought the matter to the notice of the vice chancellor on several occasions. The vice chancellor later formed a fact-finding committee and asked the three lady teachers to appear before it to which they expressed their reluctance.
“As these harassed teachers later approached us, we met the Governor today and requested him to intervene in the matter. The Governor told us that he would discuss the matter with the vice chancellor and take necessary action,” he added.
“I must thank Associate Professor Sanhita Padhi and the other two senior lady lecturers for bringing the matter to the public. These three staffs of the Ravenshaw University have also alleged harassment of the girl students by the senior faculty members. We have requested the Governor to form a high-level committee to conduct impartial probe into the matter and identify the accused and initiate stringent punishment against them,” senior Congress leader Bijayalaxmi Sahu and member of the delegation, informed the media persons.
Notably, the three lady teaching staffs— Associate Professor Sanhita Padhi of Botany department, Anjuman Ara of Hindi and Anita Das of Sociology department— had brought harassment charges against their senior faculty and lodged a complaint with the vice chancellor.
But as the matter was flashed in the media, the vice chancellor had formed a committee and asked the three lady teaching staffs to appear before it. But the teachers said they did not have faith in the fact finding panel and wanted a Crime Branch investigation.
Notably, Padhi had made allegation of harassment and mental torture against a senior faculty member of her department in August last year. She had also alleged that the senior faculty member had been harassing her and some other female students for the last few months.
After Padhi, two other lady teaching staffs also came forward with allegations of harassment.