New Delhi:
Delhi's prestigious St Stephen's College plunged into a controversy with Congress MP and alumni Sandeep Dikshit accusing it of being run like a "private property", a charge vehemently denied by the 130-year-old institution.
Dikshit, the east Delhi MP and son of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, said it would be a national loss if his alma mater is run like in the present manner.
"Those who run the institution, run it like a private property. Unfortunately, anybody whose children or grandchildren aspire to study there, they won't like to criticise the institute. The issue is that nobody wants to bell the cat," he said.
He alleged that the current college administration was "narrow-minded".
Pointing fingers at Principal Valson Thampu, he said he had acquired a PhD degree from "somewhere around two years back" which was not upto the standards of a principal of St Stephen's.
His comments came in the backdrop of his removal from the college governing body. He had been nominated to the body as the alumni representative to the body on October 28, 2009, but he never attended it nor accepted his nomination.
Reacting to the allegations, the college governing council said in a statement that they did not remove Dikshit from the body but withdrew the nomination as he "never accepted (it) over one year and seven months".
The statement signed by seven members of the council said the decision to this effect was unanimous as also the nomination of Justice Krishan Kaul in his place.
"Soon after Dikshit was nominated, the Principal wrote to him personally inviting him but he never bothered to acknowledge or reply. He then requested an alumnus close to Dikshit to request him to take interest in college matters. To her, he expressed resentment that he was nominated without his consent," the statement said.
It said the principal's personal request to Dikshit in the same regard was met with the response that he was a busy Parliamentarian and that he would not be able to attend Governing Body meetings.
Reacting to a media report quoting Dikshit as saying that the college was being run like a communal body, the statement termed the allegations as "baseless and prejudiced".