No Faculty, No Facilities, and Eve-Teasing: Cluster University Students Seek LG’s Intervention

A female student said that they feel unsafe on the campus as the authorities have not put in any mechanism to curb the entry of outsiders into the campus.

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SRINAGAR — The students pursuing integrated bachelor’s degree in English from Cluster University of Srinagar (Amar Singh College campus) have accused the university authorities of being negligent, manipulative and unjust towards them.

The students have written a letter to the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, and demanded his immediate intervention and sought his attention towards the issues they face in the University on a daily basis, and demanded their grievances be addressed as soon as possible. 

The students allege that they have been suffering on various grounds in the university and the university’s administration has been turning a blind eye to their long pending genuine grievances. 

At least two officials including the Assistant Registrar and Incharge Controller examinations denied speaking on the students’ grievances.

The students said that the University has no proper faculty for the offered courses and hires the contractual faculty months after commencement of the semester.

“There is a severe dearth of adequate permanent faculty. Hiring contractual faculty months after the commencement of the semester has become the new norm of the university. Eventually, the syllabus remains incomplete and the exams get delayed,” said a student.

He alleged that the university hires inexperienced faculty on a contractual basis resulting in the loss of precious time of the students. “We lurk in a state of oblivion regarding major academic events including examinations,” he said.

Another student said that the University seems to be more concerned about competing with the other universities rather than caring about the quality of education and the student’s careers.

He pointed out that an active library along with a proper reading room equipped with an internet facility is of great importance for the students but no such facility has been provided to them so far.

The students allege that besides lacking the faculty for the particular course, the university has no proper heating arrangements for students in these harsh weather conditions, especially when the valley is reeling under sub0-zero temperatures. 

“Before the winter vacations were announced they used to study for hours in the classroom every day in extreme cold conditions and that resulted in health complications to many students. We pay for these basic necessities and we are the ones who are left to the mercy of God,” said another student pursuing an Integrated bachelor’s degree in English literature.

A female student said that they feel unsafe on the campus as the authorities have not put in any mechanism to curb the entry of outsiders into the campus.

“The students especially girls feel unsafe in the campus premises since there are no curbs resulting in the increase of eve-teasing cases.”

She said she feels unsafe on campus as many female students face eve-teasing on a daily basis from the outsiders who roam freely on the campus.

The students have been continuously raising these concerns and issues they face at the academic level, with the university administration but, according to the students, the University administration has never bothered to address the issues.

“All these things and the ignorance of university administration is taking a toll on our mental health. If the administration would fail in redressing the issues, we will start a protest,” the students said.