Calcutta University V-C caught in scuffle at Vivekananda College

Tension ran high at Vivekananda College for Women on Tuesday after a group of students staged demonstration at the college campus demanding that they should be promoted to the next class after failing to clear the second year examinations. 

Agitating students heckled the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University Sugata Marjit who went to the college to attend a programme. 

Despite of the repeated pleas by the Vice-Chancellor, the students turned a deaf ear and continued with their slogans. 

They stopped also V-C’s car. Marjit wanted to pacify the agitating students and wanted to know what happened to them. The students told him that they were beaten up. 

He advised to the students to stop agitation and he would look into their demands. 

But the students remained unmoved. The V-C was later freed after a prolonged effort. 

The college authorities, however, refused to meet the students demand as they found it unethical. 

Around 95 students under general category joined the agitation after failing to clear the second year examinations. They demanded that the college authorities must allow them to fill up forms for enrolling themselves for the third year classes. Though, the college authorities said that they will not allow these candidates for filling up forms as they failed to clear the second year examinations. According to a college official these students failed to secure minimum marks of 120 out of 600. The failed candidates also demanded that their answer scripts must be shown to them as they claimed there were some problems while evaluating their answer papers 

“Agitation cannot be a medium of fulfilling the demands in such way which is grossly unethical. We will not allow these students to fill up the forms and be promoted to the next class. We have already told the failed candidates that they have to study in the same class for one year as they failed to secure pass marks in the second year examinations. The students do not have to pay tuition fees,” an official said. 

The students demanded that they must be cleared to the next class as the Calcutta University had no detention policy. A teacher from the college alleged that there were some outsiders in the agitation.

Soma Bhattacharya, principal of the college, said these girls scored less than 20 per cent marks in the 600 marks examination and most of these students attended classes only for 17-20 days in the past academic year.