Dr. Krishna Dwivedi, a professor at a private college, died in a car accident while traveling to Kutch for an inspection visit organized by Gujarat Technological University (GTU).
Before each academic year, GTU carries out inspections to decide whether colleges should be given affiliation. Professors from different colleges are usually chosen for this task. Recently, GTU sent a team of professors to inspect SFI Management Institute (M.S. Patel Institute of Management Studies), which is part of a granted college in Adipur, Kutch.
During this assignment, Dwivedi, a faculty member from a private management college in Veraval, was travelling to Adipur in a vehicle arranged by a transport agency appointed by GTU.
Tragically, the car met with an accident near Morbi in the early hours, resulting in the faculty member’s death on the spot and serious injuries to the driver, who was then taken to the hospital.
According to regulations, government employees are eligible for compensation if they die in an accident while on official duty.
However, in this case, the deceased was from a private college, though he was on inspection duty assigned by GTU, a state university. This has raised the issue of whether compensation should be granted.
The issue will be discussed in the upcoming GTU Board of Governors meeting, where they will decide whether to give compensation and, if so, how much.
Since the car involved in the accident was from a transport agency hired by the university, GTU has sent a notice to the agency asking for an explanation.
After talking to the driver and finding out the real cause of the accident and who was responsible, GTU will take further action.