The students of Maharani Cluster University protested outside the vice-chancellor's office on December 18 to highlight the poor infrastructure on the campus and the lack of action by the administration. The complaints raised by students include an odour emitting from washrooms, no drinking water facility and water in washrooms.
Apart from basic amenities, students also highlighted academic negligence on the university’s part and said that classes have not taken place for the last three weeks, affecting their learning. Following this, Vice-Chancellor L Gomathi Devi assured the students that most of the issues would be resolved within eight days.
The cluster university comprises three major colleges: Maharani Arts, Science, Commerce, Management College and Home Sciences College. Students of Bachelor in Commerce (BCom), currently in the fifth semester, a few students alleged that they have not received their results for the fourth semester yet and the results for the third semester were issued only last month.
Students speak up
Raising their voice, a student from BCom's final year said, “Classrooms are also not maintained, one of the rooms is occupied by pigeons and every time we pass by it, there is a foul smell and dust, affecting our health." The students said that they have raised the issues multiple times, but no action has been taken for the past two and a half years.
A few students are distressed at report cards not being marked properly and added that they failed despite being confident of passing. A few were even marked absent for the exam despite being present. Other issues such as open elective classes under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 haven't started in the university and digital infrastructure is also in a bad space, students complained.
“These are minor issues that will be addressed in the coming week. Classes not being held by guest faculty members are not in our hands, their protests are ongoing. As for the unavailability of water, a pipe had burst on campus and we are getting it fixed,” said the VC.
