Ravenshaw computer science students protest over poor lab facilities; call off stir after assurance

Days after Plus III Arts second-year students of the Odia department at Ravenshaw University staged dharna in front of the vice-chancellor's office seeking repair of their dilapidated classrooms, their peers in the self-financing computer science course on Monday launched a similar protest seeking immediate upgradation of the laboratory infrastructure.

They complained that there was an acute shortage of computers in their laboratories and the existing ones were outdated and did not function properly. “We had reported this matter to the vice-chancellor and department officials multiple times but they kept turning a deaf ear to our pleas,” they rued.

“We have seven batches of students - three of BSc, two MSc and as many of MCA. With 40 students in each batch, the total number comes to around 280. Each student pays nearly `40,000 towards the course fee which comes to around `11 crore from all 280 students. If the university isn’t able to provide us with a proper functioning computer and basic infrastructure, what is the collected money being used for?” questioned Dibya Prakash Patra, a protesting student.

Another student, Debasmita Sahu, said they too have given written complaints to the V-C in this regard but to no avail. The students, after having their pleas unheard for long, resorted to a sit-in protest to press for their demands.

The agitation was, however, called off after the university authorities assured them that a tender had already been floated for purchasing computers and their demands would be fulfilled within a month.

On November 6, Plus III Arts second-year students of the Odia department held their classes in the open in front of the V-C’s office seeking immediate repair of their dilapidated classrooms.

The protest had been called off after the university officials assured them of completing the repair work in 10 days