The 85-day long agitation at Manipur University was called off on Thursday by the protesters in the interest of the students, Manipur University Students' Union president said.
The students of the university had been demanding the removal of Vice-Chancellor A P Pandey and constitution of an Independent Enquiry Committee to look into the allegations of administrative and financial lapses made by the VC.
The Students' Union president Mayanglambam Dayaman said, "We have called off the protest for now as two of our demands have been met. The university authorities can now initiate steps to hold MA exams and declare pending results of final year college students."
He, however, maintained that their demand for removal of Pandey remains and any effort to reinstate him will not be accepted. "We will stay firm with our demand for the removal of the VC, however as the agitations created an inconvenience for students we called it off for now," added Dayaman.
The agitation was called off in the interest of students and particularly after the HRD ministry agreed to all the terms included in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed on August 16, Singh said.
The Manipur University Teachers' Association and the Manipur University Students' Union said it was for the authorities to decide when the classes would resume in the varsity.
The MOA was signed by the Manipur University Students' Union, the Manipur University Teachers' Association, the Manipur University Staffs' Association and representatives of the HRD Ministry and the state government.
On August 21, the HRD Ministry through the Registrar in-charge Prof M Shamkesho Singh had issued a press release, saying that the ministry had agreed to all the demands raised by the protesting bodies.
The Manipur University Students' Union had started the agitation on May 30 which had paralysed all academic activities in the Central varsity.
When asked about all those deans and heads of departments who had resigned during the course of the agitation, Singh said the matter will now be taken up by the authorities concerned.
Six deans, the PRO and 29 out of 31 head of departments had resigned after the agitation began.
The HRD Ministry had set up a two-member inquiry committee to investigate the allegations of administrative and financial irregularities against Pandey.
