Shimla: Agitating Himachal Pradesh university students gheraoed vice-chancellor Sunil Gupta on Monday and later burnt an effigy to seek the authorities attention towards their 30 point demand charter.
“We have had to scale up our protest as the university has turned a deaf ear towards our 36 old agitation,’ said Shikha Chauhan, president Students Council Association (SCA).
Chauhan denied that students had gheraoed the vice-chancellor’s car when he was arriving to attend office saying, “initially they were a little agitated but with the intervention of SCA, the protest was conducted in a peaceful manner.â€
The demands include increasing hostel accommodation for girl students, doing away with alleged illegal recruitments in Integrated Institute of Himalaya Studies, providing internet connectivity on campus, stocking of new books in the library and removing restriction on two students who have been put under conduct probation.
Students have been holding a chain hunger strike in support of their demands. Supported by SCA, on Thursday, a no education day was forced upon the community. Agitating students had even resorted to road blockade on the campus.
District police chief, RM Sharma, who intervened to calm the agitating students said, “we asked them to desist from breaking the law by resorting to traffic blockades.†Regarding the issue of having two students on conduct probation, he said, “some headway has been made as a student’s delegation is scheduled to meet the vice-chancellor on Saturday to resolve the contentious matter.â€
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
