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Tezpur: Students and other stakeholders of Tezpur University observed a nine-hour hunger strike on Monday demanding a response from the Education Ministry on the issues raised by them, including the immediate removal of Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh over alleged financial irregularities.
The university has been under a shutdown imposed by the agitators since late November, with limited relaxations given for the conduct of term-end examinations since last week.
Tezpur University United Forum, a joint forum of students, teachers and non-teaching staff, under whose auspices the protest is being held, said the hunger strike was held from 9 am.
“The aim of the strike is to demand prompt action from the MOE against Singh. The MOE is ignoring the community’s growing frustration over the ministry’s continued silence despite sustained agitation and repeated appeals,” TUUF said in a statement.
Questioning the MOE’s ‘long silence’, it said, “Even after several informal assurances, the ministry has failed to provide adequate solutions as promised on December 6.”
A top MoE delegation led by secretary Vineet Joshi had visited the university on December 6 but was stuck inside the campus as the gates were closed by students.
The team was allowed to leave around midnight after a handwritten assurance on a blank paper by Soumya Gupta, a member of the delegation and joint secretary of the higher education department, that Singh would not be allowed to perform any duty pending the investigation.
The TUUF said that “it is the responsibility of the MOE to restore academic and administrative normalcy” and warned that the protests would intensify if decisive action was not taken without delay.
They reiterated their demand for Singh’s removal, an impartial high-level investigation against him and placing him on official administrative leave.
The university, located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra in Sonitpur district, has been completely closed since November 29 as a joint forum of all stakeholders demanded the removal of the VC and an inquiry against him.
The situation had been tense since mid-September, with students accusing the VC and university authorities of not giving due respect to cultural icon Zubeen Garg, while the state was mourning his death.
Apart from financial irregularities, the agitators are also protesting alleged deforestation carried out under Singh’s administration.
The senior-most faculty member, Dhrub Kumar Bhattacharya, took charge as acting vice-chancellor on December 5, citing the Tezpur University Act, 1993.
On his request, students had agreed to appear for term-end examinations from December 11, although other activities remained closed at the central university.
Singh has been staying away from the campus after the heated scene and exchange of words between him and students at the university on September 22, which led to a situation where Singh almost had to flee from the place.
He had called a virtual meeting of the management board on December 4, and appointed mass communication professor Zoya Chakraborty as Pro-VC, a role she had refused.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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