Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar had to intervene late Thursday evening to end the lockdown of Bihar’s premier Patna University, which derailed the examinations and stopped all activities for over a week due to the indefinite strike by the university employees association.
On Friday, the association signed an agreement with the university on the lines of what was agreed at the Raj Bhawan, and later opened the gates of the institutions.
“The talks at the Raj Bhawan, which ended around 10pm on Thursday, were positive and based on what was agreed, an agreement was signed by the association and the university. The strike has been called off and fresh exam schedule will be announced soon,” said a senior university official.
The Governor, who is the chancellor of the state universities, called the leaders of the employees’ association as well as the university top brass, including the VC AK Singh, for talks around 8 pm at the Raj Bhawan and made them resolve the issue forthwith in the interest of the students.
The university sought a month’s time for three of the demands having financial implications, for which the state government has already been approached through a letter.
“The Chancellor has been particular about streamlining the academic session and exam calendar in the universities and he was upset with the way things were handled and all exams were cancelled, leading to his intervention to resolve an issue that should have been resolved at the university level. After all, all are part of the university family and all have to work for its betterment for the students,” said a senior Raj Bhawan official.
The official said that the governor made it clear to both the employees and the universities that he would not tolerate students being made to suffer. “If you have demands, you can talk over them, but not disrupt the system like this. If you people cannot resolve, approach me. Had you disrupted exams like this if your own children were involved?” He asked.
The Chancellor asked the university to utilise available funds for meeting genuine demands of the employees, including payment of arrears. “What has happened is unacceptable. There should not be any communication gap with the employees, students and teachers. Whatever instructions are being from the Chancellor’s office should be complied with without fail,” he said, adding the Chancellor’s office would also seek status of compliance of previous orders.
The university had through a communique on December 7 cancelled all exams till further orders due to indefinite strike and lockdown. The appeal of the university to the employees to return to work on Monday has also remained unheeded, but now the strike is set to be resolved and new exam schedule will be announced.
Earlier, the students’ agitation in support of their demand for pending students’ union election and allotment of hostels, which had been closed following unrest, had affected the university. Then also Arlekar had to hold a meeting with the university top brass and students’ leaders on November 28 at the Raj Bhawan to break the impasse.
