The hunger strike of former district president of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Devendra Rawat under the banner of Kshetriya Kranti Dal entered its third day on Sunday against alleged corruption in GB Pant Engineering College, Ghurdori (Pauri). Rawat sat on hunger strike on Friday, when police lifted hunger striker Subodh Pokhriyal, the president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal district unit on the fifth day of his hunger strike and admitted him in the district hospital at Pauri.
Even in the hospital, Pokhriyal refused to take any food considering which he was administered glucose by the doctors. Pokhriyal stressed that he will be on hunger strike till the government sets up a special investigation team to probe into the alleged corruption in the engineering college. On the other side, the condition of the hunger striker Devendra Rawat is said to have deteriorated as he has been suffering from a kidney infection for the last three months, added the UKD spokesman Bhaskar Bahuguna.They are staging the sit in and hunger strike now near the collectorate. The sit in has entered its 79th day of which 70 days were in the engineering college premises.
UKD spokesman Bahuguna said that the sub divisional magistrate had arranged a meeting with the principal of the engineering college at Tehsil on Sunday.
The meeting was attended by Pokhriyal and others but a mutual understanding could not be reached due to the purportedly adamant attitude of the college principal SP Pandey. UKD said that the agitation sit in and hunger strike will continue till the demand for an SIT inquiry is met.
Meanwhile, following the threat of the protersters to commit self immolation, the principal of the engineering college had to remove registrar Sandeep Kumar from this additional charge on Thursday evening and send him to his original post of the training and placement officer with the charge of the registrar being given for now to Sanjeev Naithani.
It is pertinent to mention here that the various organisations had leveled allegations of financial irregularities, scam in purchases and out sourcing after which an agitation was also launched under the banner of the Kshetriya Kranti Morcha supported by the UKD. The protesters complain that despite memorandums being submitted to the chief minister and the district magistrate, no concrete action has been taken so far in this case.
The locals also point out that while the State Government repeatedly touts its zero-tolerance stance towards corruption but is hesitating to order an SIT probe into the alleged corruption in the engineering college.