Students of 2 colleges demonstrate over shortage of attendance

Students of two colleges in the city held demonstrations on Friday after they were denied permission to appear for an upcoming examinations due to shortage of attendance, officials said.

While affected students of the South City college put up road blockade in Golpark area, those of the Gurudas College agitated inside the college campus in Maniktala in north Kolkata.

Around 300 students of the South City college blockaded Gariahat Road (South) for over an hour.

They were demanding relaxation of the the minimum 60 per cent attendance criteria to appear for university examinations.

One of the agitating students Asutosh Sharma said the blockade was withdrawn after senior police officers informed them that the state government will talk to the students over the issue by Saturday.

In the second incident at Maniktala, a section of students of the Gurudas College agitated in the campus in protest against omission of their names from the list of examinees because of poor attendance.

"We had been assured by the union members that we will be allowed to appear for the exams even if our attendance falls short of 60 per cent," Senjuti Saha, one of the affected students said.

A spokesman of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad-controlled college union, however, denied that any such promise had been made to students.

The authorities of both the colleges said separately there could not be any relaxation in 60 per cent attendance criteria as it had been made mandatory by the Calcutta University as per the Choice Based Credit System at all affiliated colleges.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee earlier said the students of different colleges should co-operate in maintaining academic atmosphere in their institutes.

Chatterjee did not comment on the agitation by some students of the two colleges.