Amid the controversy surrounding Dehradun-based National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH), students who are protesting the alleged sexual harassment of a girl student by a music teacher, said on Wednesday that they will continue their protest till the director is terminated and a deadline is set to meet their demands.

The students have been protesting since August 15 against the alleged molestation and have also put forth a list of demands. The accused teacher, Suchit Narang, was booked by Rajpur police on Saturday but has not been arrested.

On Wednesday, director of department of empowerment of persons with disabilities, ministry of social justice, Kumar Vikram Simha (KVS) Rao visited the institute and spoke to some children and staff. He has been appointed as interim director of the institute for next three months after the present director Anuradha Dalmia resigned on Tuesday. However, according to sources, her resignation is yet to be accepted by the authorities till Wednesday noon.

On Tuesday, the director of NIVH, Anuradha Dalmia, had resigned after the Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (USCPCR) Usha Negi visited the institute to conduct an investigation.

“We will not stop our protests till the director, Anuradha Dalmiya, is not terminated. We want her termination as she has been ignoring our complaints for the last few years. She never spoke to us about our problems and when we approached her with our application, she turned us away,” said Dinesh, a student of the institute studying in Class 12.

“Apart from her termination, we also want our demands to be met within a deadline. Our demands include medical facility at night, proper security, a generator for power back-up, the option of science stream after class 10 and most importantly a playground,” added Dinesh.

“The administration had assured us of a playground, but now buildings have been constructed on the site. We also want the arrest of Suchit Narang,” he added.

Another student, who identified himself as Vikas, said, “We have heard that the director has been removed for three months and a new director will come for the same period. We won’t stop protesting till we receive her termination letter.”

Earlier on Tuesday late evening, chairperson of USCPCR Usha Negi spoke to students and staff at NIVH.

“While speaking to the students, I asked them to narrate their problems freely without coming under anybody’s influence. After listening to their problems, I asked the director and other staff about not taking action and they failed to come up with a satisfactory answer,” said Negi.

“We want quick and proper action,” added Negi.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/protests-will-continue-till-director-is-terminated-demands-met-nivh-students/story-FGkM9UjFrViP2kqzchIb3N.html