Utkal University VC office gheraoed over pharmacy dept issues

BHUBANESWAR: Students of pharmacy department of Utkal University on Monday gheraoed office of university’s vice-chancellor Sabita Acharya and apprised her about their department problems.

The students came out in a procession from their department to the administrative block of the university and staged a dharna in front of the VC office seeking fulfilment of their five-point charter of demands.

They have been demanding for development of infrastructure of their department, especially unavailability of classrooms. “We do not have enough classrooms and sufficient faculties. Teachers are very much important to maintain the quality of education. We have only seven faculty members for four batches of B Pharm, two batches of M Pharm and PhD scholars,” said an agitating student.

They also demanded for regularisation of the department. “Now department of pharmacy is a self-finance department and it runs the show by taking fees from the students. Regularisation of the department will solve all the problems of the department,” said another student.

The protesting students also requested the VC to add new equipment and chemicals in the laboratory. “Laboratory development is a vital part of our education. Another major issue is holding examinations on time. Delay in examination will create problems for the students to get certificates and jobs,” said the agitating student.

University VC Acharya said they will provide an extra classroom for the department to hold the classes. “As the department is running in self-financing mode, it will look after the laboratory development and faculty issues. Conducting examinations in time is the responsibility of the department head,” she added.

She said they will hold a meeting with the faculties of the department within seven days and discuss these demands one by one.

On September 25, 2018, students of this department had staged dharna in front of the office of the university VC over their department problems.