HCU VC rules out resignation

Hyderabad Central University(HCU) Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, who is at the centre of a raging controversy over the suicide of a dalit student, today ruled out his resignation on the demand made by "aggrieved" students. Rao also sought to distance the HRD Ministry and the two ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya from the decisions taken by the University which allegedly forced the student Rohit Vemula to take the extreme step. "I am not going to consider such kind of demand," he said when asked whether he would consider quitting the post as demanded by students who are now being backed by several political parties. The students, Rao said, have made the demand in a situation in which they feel they are aggrieved and have asked for his resignation. "Anything has to come through a proper method and has to go through an established process. Decisions are taken in a cool atmosphere. If an appropriate committee considers the whole issue and finds if I have done anything wrong then I can consider," he said. Asked about the alleged intervention by the HRD ministry on the basis of a letter written by Dattatreya, Rao said it is a common practice for people's representatives to write routinely on common man's grievances. "It is entirely university's decisions (relating to Rohit) and it has nothing to do with the HRD ministry," he said. HCU Chancellor C Rangarajan said the incident was "very regrettable" and that it should not have happened. He, however, pleaded ignorance about the details. "As a Chancellor, I am not apprised of all these details...I do not know the sequence of events like that because that is not the role of the Chancellor. All that I can say is that it is a very regrettable event. It should not have happened. It's an extremely sad event," he said