Drug abuse: JU V-C calls for improving public perception through discussion

Kolkata: Jadavpur University Vice- Chancellor Suranjan Das on Friday called for improving public perception through discussions involving teachers, students, non-teaching staff and other officials of the varsity to address the menace of drug abuse in the campus.

Speaking at a convention on alleged drug and narcotics consumption in the varsity campus, Das regretted that such a convention was organised in the university.

" UGC will select 10 institutions as institutes of excellence. We are forwarding the proposal to improve our ranking as a state-funded university. However certain reports (about drug abuse in the campus) do not help in improving public perception about the institution and can only harm us.

"It is up to the students to decide whether everything that can be done in private place can also be done in public place" Das said. He maintained that there is a qualitative difference between private and public spaces. "There is a law in our country and what can be done at home, can't be done in public," he added. The Vice-Chancellor was critical of his own way of taking strong administrative measures to curb the practice of drug and narcotics abuse in the campus in the beginning of his tenure as the VC. "I admit that we had failed miserably when we had taken administrative steps. There should be scope for liberal views and free space in the varsity. Unlike nearby central institutes and other universities, I have removed CCTV from the varsity campus," he said adding that, social problems can be solved in a scientific manner and by improving the standard of research and studies in the institution that JU has been doing constantly. A student from the Arts Faculty students' union welcomed the move and said: "We are not for any punitive measures but welcome any initiative to ensure proper atmosphere in the campus."