post news network
Puri, Feb 18: The Shri Jagannath Sanskrit University in the city here was closed sine die Thursday following two days of agitations by students.
Registrar Madhusudan Mishra announced the sine die closure after vice-chancellor Gadadhar Panda met Governor and Chancellor SC Jamir in Bhubaneswar and discussed the university affairs.
Students of the varsity launched an agitation Wednesday seeking inclusion of their representative in the syndicate, establishment of a police outpost on the campus and cancellation of an ongoing recruitment process, sources said.
The students also sought upgradation of facilities in hostels, timely examination and setting up of students’ common room and playground. The students locked the main gate of the university and demanded the vice-chancellor’s resignation after varsity authorities failed to give any assurance to them regarding their demands, sources said.
The agitating students opposed the sine die closure and raised slogans against the vice-chancellor.
A scuffle ensued between the police personnel and the agitators when the former tried to take student leader Nabakishore Das into custody, according to sources. A few students alleged that security personnel misbehaved with some girls when they opposed Nabakishore’s detention.
Many students were seen roaming on the city roads with their luggage after they were escorted out of their hostels. “I don’t have enough money to go to my native place in Rayagada district. However, the varsity authorities and police forced me to leave the hostel,” said Madhusmita Das, a student.
The agitating students have decided to lodge a complaint with the Governor regarding the varsity authorities’ callousness about their problems. “Several irregularities have occurred in the varsity in the last couple of months. The vice-chancellor does not take any step to solve our problems. We will raise all these issues with the Governor,” Nabakishore said.
University postgraduate council chairman Pravat Ranjan Mahapatra, meanwhile, said they will take immediate steps to upgrade facilities in hostels and provide drinking water to the students.
