After the controversial Ganesha Puja held within the office complex, Burdwan University today abruptly suspended the semester examinations without prior notice.
The university suspended the viva-voce test of the Community Engagement term paper without citing any valid reason. The SFI alleged that the authorities had halted the test to facilitate the Trinamul Congress Chhatra Parishad’s (TMCP) foundation day celebrations in Kolkata.
Amrit Roy, secretary of the Burdwan Town Local Committee of the SFI, said: “In most colleges across the district, the TMCP forced students to travel to Kolkata to attend their programme today.”
Vice-Chancellor Shankar Nath also admitted that most students were absent from campuses. He said: “Due to the non-availability of passenger buses on the road, attendance dropped to a meagre 20 per cent today. When 80 per cent of students were absent, we decided to postpone the exam for the day. Also, it is not a central exam, but an internal departmental one.”