Visva-Bharati University Registrar resigns amid students protest to reopen hostels

A Visva-Bharati spokesperson informed that the Registrar sent his resignation letter to Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty but did not cite any reason for his decision to quit.

Visva-Bharati University Registrar Ashis Agarwal has stepped down from his post amid the ongoing protest by the students over reopening of the campus hostels. The Registrar who had been gheraoed in his chamber from March 1 to 3 by the agitating students, again faced their ire during an administrative meeting on Tuesday morning.

Visva Bharati Registrar sent resignation to VC

A Visva-Bharati spokesperson informed that the Registrar sent his resignation letter to Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty but did not cite any reason for his decision to quit. He said that Agarwal's family lives elsewhere in the state and that could be a factor. He was appointed as the registrar of the central university a few months ago.

Meanwhile, the students continued their protests inside the university campus stating that though the authorities acceded to their demand for reopening the hostels, the facilities are not yet ready.

SFI Visva-Bharati unit leader Somnath Sow informed PTI that they feel sorry for the registrar who had to resign due to the hostile attitude of the top authorities towards the issues faced by students. Sow and two other students had been on a relay hunger strike inside the campus demanding immediate reopening of hostels. The students also boycotted offline semester exams of UG and PG levels.

While speaking to the media house, Visva-Bharati SFI unit spokesperson Somnath Sow had earlier said that the University authority is knowingly delaying the reopening of 15 hostels of the Central University despite the Calcutta High Court order. 

"While Visva-Bharati has issued notification for the commencement of offline tests from today (March 11) it is yet to open the hostels. So how can a large number of outstation students write their examinations? Many of them are either forced to shell out huge amounts as lodging fees in guest houses or cannot return to the campus and appear in the offline examinations due to financial reasons," he said.

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