AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
A threatening anonymous letter sent to a 45-year-old female pro fessor of Goa College of Art has left the academic staff horrified and students in shock that a professor who has been fighting for their cause is now having to live under threat. Matters came to a head at the Goa College of Art on July 30, 2026, when Assis tant Professor Lorette Pin to received an anonymous letter, accessed by O Heral do, which read: “It has been observed that you have re peatedly submitted com plaints against members of the non-teaching staff to higher authorities. Such actions unnecessarily con sume administrative time and resources, adversely affect the morale of staff members, and disrupt the harmonious working envi ronment of the institution.” The unsigned letter goes on to state: “It is my advice to you that you do only your teaching duty and don’t interfere in adminis trative matters.
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This is your first and last warning. Don’t try the patience of others. If you make complaints again, then you will be responsi ble for whatever happens afterwards.” Investigations after the Panjim Police registered a Non-Cognizable (NC) complaint (No 130/2026) against unknown persons on July 31, 2026, at 4.33 pm indicate that tension had been simmering between the academic and non-aca demic staff for a long time over the non-availability of academic material essen tial for students. Upset and unwilling to see students work without proper academic materials, teachers had on several oc casions brought the issue to the attention of the prin cipal, but to no avail. “It was not just academic material. There were days when we had to teach in classrooms without functional bulbs,” confessed a teacher on condition of anonymity. Professor Pinto, according to documents accessed by O Heraldo, wrote to Bhushan K Savoikar, Director of the De partment of Technical Education, on July 23, 2026, stating that it was not the first time administrative staff had caused such a delay. She noted that on two previous occasions, ex amination work had been affected due to the delayed pro curement of examination materials despite her continuous efforts to coordinate between the administrative staff and the suppliers. “I had recently had a meeting at the college with the principal and had clearly stated that students must get all the material they need on time. Students not getting their material is a serious lapse, and I instituted a system to sort out the problem of delays,” explained Bhushan K Savoikar, Director of the Department of Technical Educa tion (DTE).
That students at the college have been the constant sufferers is further evident from Pinto’s letter to the officiating principal and the DTE Director, in which she stated: “Many a time, when a requisition is made for one batch, the issuance of material is delayed so much that by the time the material reaches me, the concerned batch of students has already graduated and left the college.” “I request that at least the materials available locally in Goa be procured promptly so that the academic process of the students is not obstructed,” Pinto concluded in her letter. “There is no way that the students can be left to suffer. They cannot be expected to study without the materi al that the college is supposed to provide. I understand why the teachers are upset and believe such incidents will not happen again,” promised Savoikar, while opting not to comment on the anonymous letter sent to Profes sor Pinto. Harsha Mandurkar, officiating Principal of Goa College of Art, while not denying that there were delays in the supply of material to students, did not believe the problem was se vere. “We are a government institution and must function within the framework set by the government. There could have been occasions when there were delays, but I will now put things in place,” she said. “It is definitely not right to send threatening letters. I did make a preliminary inquiry and have asked the teacher to file a police complaint.
I am going to call a meeting of the staff today and sort matters out,” said Mandurkar when asked about the role of the principal when two depart ments do not see eye to eye. For many students, the threatening letter to the teach er, who has been highlighting their plight, reflects a lack of leadership. “It is not the job of our teachers to ensure that we get the art material due to us. What they are doing is proof that they love their job and care about us. Whoever has threatened her is only hurting themselves,” said a stu dent during the lunch break on campus. “I am shaken, but it will not stop me from helping my colleagues realise that our emphasis should be on students and nothing else. I have managed to cope so far because of the support of my colleagues and the students. This has been my strength since I received the letter,” stated Lorette Pinto three days after her NC complaint was registered by the Panjim Police. “We are investigating the matter. Based on some of the documents in our possession, we will be calling some peo ple for questioning,” stated the PSI investigating the case.
