Thiruvananthapuram: The 29-day-old strike at the Kerala Law Academy Law College ended on Wednesday after the management signed a new agreement with the students in the presence of Education Minister C. Raveendranath stating that Ms Lakshmi Nair has been removed as principal. Regular classes will begin from Monday. BJP leader V.V. Rajesh and Congress leader K. Muraleedharan, who had been on fast in support of the striking students, also called off their fast.
The government has agreed to intervene if the management breached the agreement which was signed by the government, management and students. A person qualified as per UGC norms will be appointed as principal. The management which advertised for a new principal made it clear that the interview will be held before August 18. The SFI, which had withdrawn the strike earlier, also signed the new agreement along with MSF,KSU and ABVP. Though the agreement with the SFI had stated that the principal had relinquished the post for five years, there is no time-limit in the present agreement. The minister held discussions for over one-and-a-half-hours with the students and union leaders before arriving at a consensus.
The decision to hold another round of talks with the students was taken in the morning at the cabinet meeting. Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar also took part in the meeting. Academy directors N. Narayanan Nair and Narayana Das represented the college management. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran and minister Sunil Kumar had held talks with the students earlier.
Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan said that he had received the report of district collector S. Venkateshpathi on the academy land issue and that the government would take a final decision after studying it.
