Charuchandra College to reopen today after intervention from Education minister

Kolkata: Charuchandra College will reopen on Thursday after declaring an indefinite shutdown in the morning hours on Wednesday.

The shutdown was withdrawn after state Education minister Partha Chatterjee said he neither favoured the gherao of the principal by students nor the subsequent decision of the college management to go for indefinite closure of the institution.

College authorities closed the college on Wednesday morning saying that the situation was not conducive for holding classes in after the principal had remained gheraoed by college union students for nearly eight hours on Tuesday. The main gate of the college remained shut and a notice was put up on the notice board. However, it was removed by the college authorities later on Wednesday after receiving instructions from the higher education department.

Earlier in the day, the college authorities claimed that teachers and non-teaching staff unanimously decided to continue cease work till the situation improves. A notice in this regard was also put up.

Chatterjee, however, expressed his unhappiness over the way the college was shut down. He said that the decision to close the college cannot be supported. The minister also asked the governing body of the college and his department officials to take prompt action so that the college could reopen at the earliest.

"The college authorities or the principal have no power to close the institution for an indefinite period. I have asked the officials of the department and also college governing body to take steps so that it can be reopened. The attempt to meet the demands by suspending classes cannot be supported," Chatterjee said.

It was learnt that the higher

education department, prodded by the Education minister had summoned the principal of the college to the higher education department in this regard.

It may be mentioned here that a section of the students staged agitation at the principal's room and gheraoed the teaching and non-teaching staff for nearly eight hours from Tuesday morning. Principal of the college S Ghosh on Wednesday told reporters that the decision to shut down the college was taken as the atmosphere was not conducive to continue the normal functioning of the institution.

According to a senior official of the college, some students staged protest against the removal of a security guard, recruited by a private agency on which the college had no control. It was alleged that the students abused the teachers and non-teaching staff, despite the college authorities appealing to the protestors that they hardly had any control on such recruitments.

The students allegedly refused to lift the gherao of the principal. A teacher and a non-teaching staff were allegedly manhandled when they tried to pacify the students. Hence, the teaching and non-teaching staff unanimously decided to continue cease work unless the situation improved. A spokesperson of the students' union, however, claimed that the students only protested against the "unfair" removal of the security guard. When the students went to the chamber, the principal had been extremely rude with them in his behaviour.