Recently, the Air Hostess and Hospitality Academy in Bhubaneswar came into light when around a 50 students entered and ransacked the campus and vandalized property.
Students were allegedly refused course certificates so they took matters in their own hands and not only caused harm to the property but also, dragged the female staff out of where they had locked themselves.
But why did they take such a drastic step?
Students are ransacking and revolting against the academy as the academy has failed to provide them with their promised diploma course certificate.
According to The Telegraph, more than 50 students, ransacked the institute and caught hold of the director and beat him up. Students had paid Rs.1.57 lakhs for the course that would fetch them a diploma in Aviation and Hospitality.
The degree they received was of no value/fake as the institute is no longer affiliated to any university.
They got jobs as cleaning staff and waiters at shopping malls and hotels with which AHHA has tie-ups and were mistreated at work which made the quit. But after quitting, they weren’t able to procure other jobs as that required them to have the certificates which the institute had still not issued.
A female student said that after she was placed in a Hyd hotel, her boss there asked her to accompany him on nights-out, pressurized her to consume alcohol and even to get physical with him.
She also stated that though she was guaranteed a monthly salary of Rs.15,000, she was given only half of it. When they called up the institute and the director they were either met with cold responses or asked to make a ‘compromise’ to secure their jobs. A male student Binayak says how he was lured from his previous workplace only to be dumped here after finishing his course according to New Indian Express.
Director of AHHA, Dillip Routray said that he was dragged and beaten mercilessly by students whom we considered his children.
Director Dillip Routray said most students were successfully placed after completing the course from the institute except 5-6 students who had quoted monotony or sexual harassment as reason had quit and were now complaining of unemployment. He even said that the institute does not offer any jobs, not does it conduct any interviews.
He says that the University is affiliated to the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) and the institute’s affiliation recently got canceled after UGC barred state universities from affiliating to universities outside their state, although he denied any form or charges of sexual harassment. The institute has also filed an FIR against the students who vandalized the property.
Now that an FIR has been lodged from both parties, who is true and who is false remains yet to be seen.
News Sources: New Indian Express, Firstpost, The Telegraph