Pune: Minister of higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil has written to agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne telling him to compensate as per govt rules the family of the College of Agriculture (CoA) student who died on March 14, while also ordering an inquiry and action against those responsible for his death.A month ago, agri-business management student Chaitanya Kundlik suffered an electric shock from a water cooler installed in the hostel mess. On March 24, he died in a private hospital in Pune. CoA students staged a protest the next day on the campus against administrative apathy. In a letter on April 21, BJP Yuva Morcha district president Vaibhav Solankar raised the issue with Patil, who is also an MLA from Pune, and there was finally a response from the minister.However, Solankar defended Patil. He said, “The agriculture college comes under the agriculture ministry. Hence, Bharne is responsible for whatever happens at the institute. The student belonged to an extremely poor family and died because of the college’s negligence. We want those responsible to be punished and have demanded Rs1 crore compensation for the family. If our demands are not met, we will protest in front of Bharne’s residence in Indapur on May 1.”CoA associate dean Mahanand Mane said the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, under which the CoA functions, had constituted an inquiry committee, but the college had not received any directions from the university regarding its recommendations, if any. “The college, students, staff and alumni paid for the hospital expenses of Kundlik, who was on ventilator. We also gave Rs13.8 lakh to the family,” added Mane.
