Students of Nehru College call off strike

THRISSUR: Students of the Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, Pampady, called off their agitation after the college management agreed to their demands raised after the January 6 unnatural death of a student, Jishnu Pranoy.
The students demanded the management to dismiss from service vice-principal M K Sakthivel, PRO Sanjit Vishwanathan and faculty members C P Praveen, M S Govindankutty and Ershad.
The protesting students said they called off the agitation after principal in-charge G Kalivarathan signed the dismissal orders, besides giving them a written assurance to implement the mutual agreement arrived at talks on February 15.
The management has agreed not to initiate retaliatory action against the protesters, and also to allow students to file complaints about internal marks within seven days of publishing it on the college website.
The college had remained closed for more than a month after Jishnu's death. Though classes resumed on February 17, students claimed that the management delayed the expulsion of those staff members accused in the case, and on Wednesday staged a sit-in at the office of acting chairman Krishnakumar, who is the brother of P Krishna Das, chairman and managing trustee of the trust.
Krishnakumar had reportedly said he was the acting chairman and did not have the rights to sign the dismissal order. Police officers at the scene intervened to facilitate the talks.