Dalit students forced to tonsure heads for fee delay

GHAZIABAD - Thirty Dalit students of a privately-run institute in Ghaziabad, affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh Technical University, were forced to tonsure their heads as the state government delayed payment of their fees, a student said Thursday.

The incident took place last month at the Institute of Management Studies (IMS), where the victims launched a protest earlier Thursday and were supported by their colleagues.

The students suffered the humiliation because the social welfare department of the state government delayed to deposit their fees with the institute, said Shivesh, a student.

“Four students - Vipin Kumar Rana, Aswani Kumar, Dinesh Kumar and Manish Morya - have submitted their written complaints to the police and sought to register a case,” he said.

“The district magistrate and the senior police officials visited the institute and assured us of initiating action against the erring staff of the institute,” he said.

He said when it was pointed out to the students that the state government has delayed payment of their fees, they paid the money from their own pocket, along with a late payment surcharge. Yet the institute insisted on tonsuring the students.

“Although each student paid a late fee of Rs.1,500 for the fault of the government, we were victimised before appearing in examination,” said one of the students.

The students said they were issued admit cards for the 7th semester examinations in December 2010 only after their heads were shaven off, he alleged.

“We kept mum in view of our examination that ended Jan 17. We also did not speak out in view of our internal assessment (accounting for 500 marks awarded by the institute) that ended Jan 21,” said a victim.

The institute closed for the vacation soon after the examination and reopened Thursday, when the students launched their agitation.

Shivesh alleged institute director Prabal Chakraborty humiliated not only the students but also their parents. He called their parents and used abusive language.

When contacted, a senior director of the institute refused to comment on the issue.