Gherao at Jadavpur University over admission procedure

The members of a students' union at Jadavpur University have gheraoed Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das and other executive committee members in protest against the institute's decision to scrap admission tests in six humanities subjects.

The university yesterday announced that it would admit undergraduate students in English, Comparative Literature, Bengali, History, Political Science and Philosophy only on the basis of their board marks, reversing its last week's decision to hold entrance tests.

The move has led to fresh turmoil in the university, with the members of arts faculty students' union staging a sit-in before the offices of Das and other executive panel officials since 6pm yesterday.

The vice-chancellor, however, said he failed to understand the reason behind the protest.

"We have been confined in our offices for over 20 hours by a handful of students, who fail to understand that the decision to scrap the entrance test was taken by the Executive Council. I, as the VC, will have to abide by the decision," he told PTI.

The gherao is taking a toll on his health, Das claimed.

"While talking about democratic movement, the students are infringing on our freedom to spend time with family. The gherao is affecting my health as I am unable to follow certain guidelines by my doctor. Yesterday, they stopped me twice from leaving the campus."