End gender discrimination in Farook College

Thiruvananthapuram: Farook College, Kozhikode, will have to end its gender discrimination policy which has evoked widespread protests from students as well as the general public.

The Kerala State Youth Commission has pulled up the college for following gender segregation policy by creating ‘boys only’ rest zones and separate spaces for boys and girls in canteens. The inquiry committee headed by chairman R.V. Rajesh asked the college management to rearrange the canteen facility for both staff and students without segregation and remove the 'boys only' boards from the rest zones.

However, the committee in its report submitted to the government on Saturday did not take up the issues relating to the suspension of K. Dinu, a student of the college who had protested against the gender segregation. A case against the policy is under the consideration of the High Court.

The committee recommended that the teams for arts competitions should be restructured to include both girls and boys at undergraduate and post-graduate levels like in other mixed colleges.

It asked the management to erect boards warning about CCTV surveillance in areas where video cameras have been put up. The commission criticised the management's stand that only the ward's father would be considered as guardian, as happened in a case when a student brought his mother before the board.

The commission asked the state government to formulate guidelines to ensure that colleges which have been given autonomy do not impose unnecessary restrictions on students. The commission  also wanted the government to make all college campuses friendly towards the differently-abled.