In a controversial move that may enrage female libbers, the Dhanbad District administration in Bihar has directed college girls not to move out of the campus during college hours to avoid eve-teasing and prevent being a traffic menace.
By Ajay Kumar
Dhanbad, Sep.6 : In a controversial move that may enrage female libbers, the Dhanbad District administration in Bihar has directed college girls not to move out of the campus during college hours to avoid eve-teasing and prevent being a 'traffic menace'.
Two leading women colleges in Bihar's Dhanbad District have been issued a directive advising them to prevent girl students from venturing out of the campus till 4 p.m., the closing time for regular classes at college.
The principals of these two women colleges-- SSNT Girls' College and BSS Mahila College-- have been asked to abide with these directives.
The authorities hope that such a step will prevent problems related to law and order on main roads.
The circular issued by Rajmohan Tiwari, Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order), has left college girls furious. They view it as a direct attack on their right to live with freedom, and add that it reflects on the district authorities' failure to clean up the mess.
"We have many problems facing loafers when we come to the college and the police do not help us in our problems. Playing it safe, they say girls should be in the college. All the time we have to stay in the college, it is not possible," said Poonam, a student.
"Boys come here on their bikes and pass lewd comments at us and the police do nothing. The house of the Superintendent of Police is near our college, but there is no law and order. Girls travel long distances to attend college, it is the police's duty to provide us security," said Kusum Pandey, another student.
College authorities say that their authority to deal with students' problems is limited to college campus. The district authority should take care of girls outside it.
"There are 8000 girls in the college. Apart from the day scholars, there are girls who arrive here for different reasons like admission, filling the forms and other college formalities. So, is it possible to keep these girls inside the college when they are here for just one or two hours," Nazma Kalim, Principal of SSNT College in Dhandbad.
Kalim believes that those creating a nuisance need to be behind bars.
She said: "Administration should keep five to six constables to avoid any disturbance, untoward incident or even traffic jams."
Additional District Magistrate (ADM), however, terms girl students being the root cause for traffic jam and drawing mischief-mongers, saying that because of the girls' presence outside their colleges, road is blocked and mischievous guys keep humming around.
Raj Mohan Tiwari, Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order) for Dhanbad, "Girls come out from the college in large numbers creating traffic bottlenecks. They form groups and gossip by the roadside which disturb the free flow of traffic. Further, their presence means boys teasing them with comments. If girls will be in the college campus, there will be no problem."
Tiwari, however, said that his directive was neither any injunction nor any notice under section 144 CrPC (criminal procedure code) but an 'advice' to keep the girls simply secure.
The administration's move, meanwhile, has triggered protests from the girl students as well as the members of the faculty who contend that it difficult to follow the timings.
College girls say that most of them come from distant places on buses arranged by the local coal firms , and often timings vary including occasions when a girl may have to leave for some reason or the other.
ANI