Sambalpur University Students Protest Offline Exams, Ransack VC Office

Sambalpur: Protesting conduct of offline exams by Sambalpur University, a group of students ransacked the office of Vice Chancellor on Tuesday.

According to reports, some students reached the university in a bus and went to the office of the Vice-Chancellor Prof Sanjiv Mittal and submitted a memorandum demanding conduct of Plus III third semester examination in online mode.

The VC informed the students that it is not possible to change the schedule now as they have not intimated about their demand earlier.

The angry students ransacked the VC’s office. As the situation went out of control, a police team rushed to the spot and had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the students.

Talking to mediapersons after the incident, the VC said the students gave them the memorandum written on the letterhead of National Students Union of India (NSUI). Police have arrested some students and seized the bus.

On the other hand, the students said they had earlier requested the university authorities to conduct the semester examination in online mode considering the COVID-19 pandemic. But, they did not consider our demands and issued a notification on March 27 for the offline examination.

They said about 15 students have been seriously injured and the condition of about 5 students is critical.

Apprehending untoward incident, two platoons of force have been deployed inside the university premises.