Presidency University acting VC under gherao for over 12 hrs by students

Presidency University Vice-Chancellor Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty has been under gherao for over 12 hours by students demanding a written commitment to reverse the proposed hike in admission fees. The students also gheraoed the registrar in the main campus of the varsity since Wednesday evening. "We want the VC to provide us with a written assurance that the proposal of fee hike will be withdrawn. We will allow him to leave once he agrees to it," Bitan Islam, an SFI activist, said. Neither the in-charge VC Chakraborty nor Registrar Debojyoti Konar responded to phone calls during the protest. The proposed hike would raise fees from Rs 4,205 to Rs 7,200 at the undergraduate level and from Rs 4,300 to Rs 7,200 for postgraduate students. An official from the university said that the proposed fee hike, the first in about 10 years, is being considered due to a financial crunch affecting the procurement of new books for libraries, laboratory instruments, and maintenance of existing ...