Mob forces officer out of American College

MADURAI: The Madurai City Police had to rush to the rescue of a top education official after she was mobbed by a group on the American College premises here on Wednesday. Joint Director of Collegiate Education K M Ponnathaal had visited the college to implement District Collector U Sagayam’s order mandating the college to maintain the status quo on the functioning of aided teachers as on November 10, 2010.The college management had prevented some aided teaching staff from entering their respective departments since November last year after two groups engaged in a tussle over college administration. Even the salary of some staff members were not paid for a long while. Following a court direction, the salary for December 2010 was released and the district administration held talks with the both groups to restore normalcy.On Wednesday, Ponnathaal visited various departments to ensure that the collector’s order was being followed. When she was in the mathematics department, a mob surrounded her and asked her to leave the place. “I could leave the college only with police help. I have complained to the collector in this regard,” said Ponnathaal.However, M Davamani Christober, Principal and Secretary of the American College, said, “Ponnathaal did not give any written order signed by the collector to us. Without consulting us, she directly went to the departments.” He also denied that rowdy elements were present on the campus. “Ponnathaal unnecessarily questioned the students who were out of the classroom during interval,” he said.