The situation turned tense at Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanjadeo (MSCB) University, Baripada, Odisha, after students demanding two separate pass certificates for BEd and MEd courses locked the varsity gate on Tuesday, April 18. Peeved over the disturbance, Vice-Chancellor Santosh Kumar Tripathy carried out all administrative work for the day under the shade of a mango tree in front of the administrative building on the campus.
The other staff members too stood there for over two hours. Tripathy informed that the university generally gave away a single pass certificate for both BEd and MEd courses. But the students demanded that they be given separate pass certificates and met the concerned department officials on April 6 over the matter, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
"As per the students' demands, the matter was taken up with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) without further ado. However, instead of meeting other officials or me regarding their demands, or finding the development in the matter, the students sat on dharna and locked the entrance of the administrative building restricting our entry," Tripathy said.
"Our staff were made to stand under the sun for several hours. This is unfair and so I too, sat on a counter-strike and declared that the official work for the day would be conducted under the mango tree," he added. Later, the students called off their strike and apologised to the VC. Sources at the varsity said that official works were disrupted for hours due to the dharna, as per TNIE.