Mangaluru: Protest staged by students, staff and the management of St Aloysius Institutions backed by the alumni yielded fruit as the state government stayed the decision of renaming of St Aloysius College Road as Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty Road on Saturday July 1.

The decision to stay renaming the road after former chairman of Vijaya bank Sundar Ram Shetty on July 2 comes in the wake of protest by St Aloysius Institutions, and also due to a letter written to the state government by Mangaluru South MLA J R Lobo.

The historic past of the college and the services rendered by the Jesuit institution over the last 137 years without caste and religious bias were highlighted in the letter dated July 1 by MLA. He also reflected upon the decision of the local corporation to proceed with the renaming without drawing the attention of public and consulting the institution in his letter, dated July 1.

The move to rename the road is against the wishes of many people in the city which resulted in some kind unrest, stated Lobo and proposed a meeting with the district in-charge minister to find a peaceful resolution to the issue.

The former chairman of Vijaya Bank Sunder Ram Shetty belonged to Mulki argued J R Lobo and even the building that was first established by Vijaya Bank does not lie along this road, he stated in his letter.

He requested the state government to take cognisance of the matter and take appropriate action. State government stayed its earlier order dated May 5, 2017 of renaming St.Aloysius road till further notice in the aftermath of protest and the letter written by the area MLA.

It may be recalled, thousands of students, staff and those from the management of St. Aloysius have been holding peaceful protest against the move of the government during the last few days. Many were pained by the sudden decision of the Mangaluru City Corporation over renaming the road as the college had offered several leading luminaries in the service of nation and mankind as a whole for well over a century.