Pune: A day-long protest by students at College of Agriculture ended late Wednesday after Vilas Kharche, vice-chancellor of Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth in Rahuri, met the agitating students and accepted their detailed memorandum, demanding immediate and strict action following the electrocution of an MBA student on Tuesday.The student succumbed to injuries sustained from a severe electric shock on March 14 while trying to draw water from a cooler at the state-run agriculture college mess.Students alleged that the tragedy was not accidental but the result of repeated negligence despite prior warnings.“We had been raising complaints about electrical faults for a long time. Even contract labourers working in the mess had experienced electric shocks multiple times, but no one took it seriously. This death could have been prevented,” a protesting student said.The students stated that the incident was a case of administrative apathy.In the memorandum submitted to Kharche, the students requested the immediate suspension of a few staff members and called for an independent inquiry into the actions of senior officials, including the hostel rector and monitor. Students also pressed for urgent improvements in emergency and healthcare infrastructure, including the appointment of a full-time medical officer, the setting up of a dispensary, and the provision of 24/7 ambulance services on campus.A key demand included a comprehensive third-party electrical and safety audit—preferably NABL-certified—of all mess facilities, hostels, and buildings, with findings made public and immediate corrective action taken. Students also demanded the creation of a digital grievance redressal system to ensure complaints are formally recorded and addressed within a fixed timeline.Highlighting broader issues of campus neglect, the memorandum also listed several basic infrastructure concerns, including non-functional water coolers, irregular RO water supply on weekends, lack of hot water in hostels, poor sanitation in toilets, stray dogs on campus and inadequate maintenance of hostel premises. Students also pointed to poor lighting in bathrooms, damaged windows, leaking taps and unsafe campus roads as ongoing risks.“We are not just protesting one death. We are fighting for the safety of every student living here,” another student said, adding that the administration had failed to act despite repeated warnings.Addressing mediapersons after meeting the students, Kharche said, “A fact-finding committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the dean. It has been directed to submit its report within 15 days so that further action can be taken in the matter. Additionally, a fire and safety audit will be conducted across all colleges under the university to prevent such incidents in the future.”
