New Delhi: For many fourth-year students of Chennai’s Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts, Kalakshetra Foundation, a circular pinned on a campus notice board earlier this month came as a jolt.
“The (advisory) committee has reviewed the admission procedures for post diploma courses and recommended that admission to post diploma courses should be made through entrance examination for which a new syllabus and standard operating procedures for the entrance examination should be crafted,” read the circular dated 11 August, 2023.
In view of this recommendation, the college says it has deferred the intake of students for postgraduate diploma courses for the academic year 2023-2024.
The circular comes months after students of the Kalakshetra Foundation held a protest on campus to demand action against teacher Hari Padman and three others accused of sexual harassment. Now, this circular has led many students to feel that they are being “targeted” by the management for speaking up against sexual harassment on campus.
“We’re being targeted for protesting against the management for their mishandling of sexual harassment allegations last year,” said a former student who was part of the protests. “The protests were led by fourth-year students, and this is their way of punishing us.”
The student, who graduated this year, also alleged that the management has been inaccessible, with the director, Revathi Ramachandran, not giving students an audience.
“There’s no point in reforming this structure. How does this improve the environment for students or keep sexual abuse in check,” asked the student, who was looking to enroll in the college’s postgraduate diploma course. “This has wasted a year of my career.”
On the management’s decision to defer admissions to postgraduate diploma courses, a member of the faculty told ThePrint, “This is unfair treatment of the students by Kalakshetra management. They’re being punished for simply raising their voice.”
ThePrint reached Ramachandran via Whatsapp for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
So far, admission to postgraduate diploma courses was granted on the basis of the results of final-year examinations — securing first-division degrees would make one eligible.
According to students, a total of 39 fourth-year students graduated from the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts this year. Of those, more than 20 secured first-division degrees. Since postgraduate admissions had been delayed, many sought admission at other colleges, while 14 were waiting to hear from the Kalakshetra Foundation.
“Most of the students who have been turned away by the college for a year are the ones who led the protest and were vocal in the media against the college,” alleged the student quoted earlier.
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Kalakshetra students: ‘Being punished for protesting’
A current fourth-year student, meanwhile, said that there had been a marked shift in the atmosphere of the college since it was rocked by allegations of sexual harassment earlier this year.
“They’re penalising us for protesting. A person who can’t sing is being assigned to teach the super-senior batch. The director has stopped coming to the morning assembly, the atmosphere has turned toxic,” the student said. She added that teachers who were “good influences” and supported the students during the protests were not “being assigned classes”. The distribution of their classes this year has been unfair, the student alleged.
The faculty member quoted earlier, who was supportive of the protests, said many teachers had now been asked to teach more junior classes. “I have been taking a fourth-year class for half a decade. This year, I have been assigned to second-year classes.”
Adding that one of her colleagues faced similar issues, the faculty member said, “It is clear the management wants to take revenge on us…The management wants to show the culture ministry that Kalakshetra is doomed without Hari Padman.”
Currently under suspension, Padman was accused of sexual harassment by students who spoke to ThePrint in March this year. A former student had also filed a police complaint against Padman, who has been chargesheeted by the police. Kalakshetra’s advisory committee, too, found him guilty of the charges levelled against him.
Fourth-year students also say they feel isolated on campus and that first-years have been instructed to not to talk to their seniors. “Everything on campus is plain wrong,” said another fourth-year. “Students are being monitored, their food is being monitored, their movement is being monitored.”
Students also allege they are being forced to leave the campus by 5 pm every day. “This leaves us with no time to practise what we’ve learnt…we used to tutor the first-years, now we can’t even talk to them,” said the second fourth-year student.
According to the faculty member, the hostel is virtually empty. “This has never happened that we have more day scholars than hostellers.
“The hostel is a jail. Nobody wants to stay there,” said the first fourth-year student, who alleged that the management was “penalising” students for protesting against sexual harassment on campus.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)