Panel to look at varsity security - Students to withdraw agitation till tuesday

TT, Siliguri, Aug. 17: North Bengal University vice-chancellor Somnath Ghosh today said he would form a committee within 24 hours to recommend measures to be taken to tighten security on the campus where a research scholar was allegedly molested on August 15.

Ghosh promised the panel at a meeting between the authorities and students in the wake of the molestation of a research scholar by a bike rider on the campus on Monday.

The students said they would not hold the protest till Tuesday on the request of the VC.

After the meeting, the VC said: "Today, we conducted a meeting to hear the grievances of the students and research scholars regarding the lapses in the security arrangements at the NBU. We have taken a decision to form a committee with representatives from among research scholars, students, teachers, officials, and employees within 24 hours to discuss the security problems and recommend safety measures that can be implemented on the campus. The registrar will be the committee's convener and the members will be asked to submit an interim report in two-three weeks."

Ghosh said the students and the research scholars had demanded that the whole campus be brought under CCTV surveillance and the gaps in the boundary wall be closed.

"We have already started the process of CCTV installation and officials of Webel, the state government agency for technology development, visited the NBU last week to conduct a survey of the campus for the installation of the cameras. The cameras will be installed in a phased manner on a priority basis. Closing the gaps in the boundary wall may be resisted by villagers in the immediate vicinity of the varsity as they have been using those gaps to commute for several years now," he added.

According to the VC, the villagers need to be convinced through members of the local gram panchayats and officials of the local administration and Matigara police station about the need to block the gaps and it will take time.

Students and research scholars shut down the varsity yesterday in protest against the molestation of the PhD research scholar. The victim and two other research scholars were returning to their hostel from a department at 2pm when a man on a bike wearing a helmet touched her inappropriately and sped away.

An FIR was lodged at the Matigara police station that day and two guards who were supposed to be on duty at the spot were showcaused by the NBU.

As immediate steps, the VC said, patrolling by varsity security personnel would be increased.

"The security officer (in-charge) has been asked to monitor whether or not the guards are performing their duties properly. There are 35 vacant posts of security personnel right now but we will not be able to fill them up overnight as we have to follow a process to recruit the guards," said Ghosh.

Currently, there are 100 security personnel to guard the 330 acre varsity.

Although there was no strike today, a large number of research scholars and students had gathered at the administrative building since 9am.

The meeting between them and the NBU authorities started at 1.30pm and lasted for an hour.

"We had wanted the varsity officials to recruit more security guards immediately because the current number is inadequate to provide security to such a vast area. At present, a single guard is in charge of security for four to five spots at a time and it is impossible for him to be present at every spot all the time. But, the authorities did not give us any assurance on the recruitment of more guards. We had sought a time frame to fulfil our long-standing demands such as installation of CCTV cameras and blocking gaps in the boundary walls. Apart from regular assurances, they failed to give us a time frame," said a PhD scholar.

"The VC today asked us to withdraw our strike, saying a committee would be formed to recommend improvements in the security system. So, we have decided to keep on hold our agitation till Tuesday when we will meet the authorities again. If they fail to form the committee or increase the number of guards, we will resort to agitation again," she added.