Bhubaneswar: Odisha Congress alleged that girl students in higher educational institutions across Odisha are facing insecurity and harassment, accusing the Higher Education department of failing to take stringent action against professors facing such allegations.
Addressing a press conference at the state Congress office in Bhubaneswar Thyrsday, party spokesperson and student leader Bibhuti Bhushan Mahapatra accused the government of adopting a soft approach towards faculty members accused of mental and physical harassment of students.
He said if Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj fails to act against the accused, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi should remove him from the Cabinet.
Mahapatra alleged that complaints of harassment involving girl students are surfacing from various higher educational institutions across Odisha, but the government has failed to take action.
Referring to a case at BJB College in Bhubaneswar, he claimed the government was trying to shield Odia professor Subhranshu Behera, who has been accused of mentally and physically harassing female students.
According to Mahapatra, an inquiry conducted by the Regional Director of Education (RDE) found the allegations against the professor to be prima facie true. The inquiry reportedly cited incidents of inappropriate touching, obscene gestures, double-meaning remarks, and objectionable comments directed at female students.
The Congress leader alleged that despite the RDE report describing the professor as a “habitual offender,” the Higher Education Department has failed to initiate stringent action. Instead, he claimed, the accused faculty member was being accommodated within the department through promotional postings.
Questioning the government’s decision to refer the matter again to the college’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), Mahapatra asked why a fresh inquiry was necessary after the RDE findings. He also sought clarification from Minister Suraj on whether the RDE report held less authority than the ICC.
Mahapatra further alleged that complaints of harassment against faculty members, including Pandab Pradhan of BJB College, former Economics lecturer Deepti Ranjan Nanda of Ramadevi +2 Women’s College, and Santosh Kumar Nayak of Fakir Mohan College, have not led to stringent disciplinary action. He also referred to protests by students of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya.