Make students sign ‘no dowry bond’ before awarding degree, Guv Khan tells VCs

KOCHI: Taking forward the fight against dowry, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has directed the universities in the state to come up with a system that will ensure that the social evil is eradicated from society. The effort should begin from the educational institutions, the governor said during his meeting with vice-chancellors here on Friday. The governor — the chancellor of the universities in the state — said the first step towards curbing the menace is to ensure that the educational qualifications of prospective grooms are not used as a tool for haggling over dowry.

“Hence, it has been suggested to make the students sign a bond promising that they won’t accept or give dowry, before they are awarded their degree certificates,” said the governor. “Recently, Kerala has been in the news for very wrong reasons. The deaths caused as a result of dowry harassment has shaken the people of the state. It is paradoxical that in a state which has the highest literacy rate and great social awareness such incidents have happened. This is the state which has seen a lot of contributions by women in its social and economic development.” He said it is unbelievable that such monstrosities are happening in Kerala.

“So I would like the students to pledge that they shall never demand or give dowry. As a step towards motivating them, I have asked the vice-chancellors to obtain or get the students to sign a bond that promises that they will not seek or give dowry. The degree certificates will be awarded only to those students who have signed the bond,” the governor said.‘Vidya’ is supposed to give us enlightenment or ‘vivek’, the governor said.  “But today it has turned into a thing that is being used to squeeze out money,” the governor said.

‘Signing of bonds not to be restricted to students’

The governor said knowledge is ‘vimarsh roopani’ which gives us a sense of right and wrong, and it is not meant to be the means to increase the price of a person in the marriage market.“This is a crime and it is a criminal activity,” he said.The signing of bonds will not be restricted to students, the governor said.

“To get a job with the universities and colleges, the candidates will have to submit a declaration that they will not accept or give dowry. To get admission to various courses, the parents of the students will have to sign a bond declaring the same. A proforma towards this will be drawn up at a meeting that will be called very soon,” he said.

On the controversies over irregularities in the conduct of examinations at MG and Kerala universities, the missing of answer sheets at Kalady university and the issues regarding faculty appointments, the governor said he has looked into every complaint.“Action will be taken as deemed suitable,” he said.