Student members in Gargi ICC to be elected on Feb 28

THE PRINCIPAL HAD EARLIER TOLD HT STUDENTS COULD APPROACH THE ICC. STUDENTS SAID PANEL WAS “COMPROMISED”

NEWDELHI: Following complaints of a “compromised” Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at Delhi University’s Gargi College, where complaints of sexual harassment surfaced last week, the college on Wednesday announced that elections for student representatives in the committee would be conducted on February 28.

Students can file their nominations with the principal by February 21.

Last week, students had alleged that on the third day of their annual fest, Reverie, “hordes of men” entered the campus, harassed and molested students.

While principal Promila Kumar had earlier told HT that students could approach the ICC, several students said the committee was “compromised.”

Students had staged a mass demonstration inside the campus and called for a strike till their demands were met, which included a written apology, formation of ICC, and revealing details of the budget of the annual festival.

Requesting anonymity, a third-year undergraduate student said, “There have been no elections for student representatives in the ICC for the past one year. There were no student representatives in the ICC for the past couple of months at least. Even the names of representatives from the teaching and administrative sections were not very clear.”

Reacting to the allegations, Kumar said, “We have already issued notice to elect student members to ICC. We are committed to the safety and security of our students. We will be approaching the governing body for permission to appoint counsellors for the students who have gone through a traumatic experience.”

The students said they would continue with their strike after receiving unsatisfactory responses from the principal on Wednesday. “While the principal did come out to have a dialogue with the students, the students weren’t satisfied with her explanations and answers,” the students said in a statement.

The 36-member fact-finding committee, which is tasked with looking after incidents of harassment and molestation on February 6, had its first meeting on Wednesday and is expected to submit its report by Saturday.

Meanwhile, nearly a week after the incident, the Registrar of Delhi University on Wednesday condemned the incident and has sought an action-taken-report from the principal..