Culture varsity reopens, finally

BHUBANESWAR: A month-long stalemate ended with the Utkal University of Culture reopening on Monday. The agitation was called off after the varsity administration and government officials acceded to some of their major demands during a meeting held with representatives of the agitating students. Regular classes would however begin on March 23, official sources said.
"We have decided to withdraw our strike after the government and varsity administration assured us to solve our major demands," said All India Students Federation (AISF) state president Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra said.
Secretary, Culture, B C Jena and registrar of the varsity H P Patnaik were among the government representatives at the meeting.
The agitating students, who had locked the main entrance of the campus and joined the dharna had placed their 18-point charter of demands before the varsity authorities.
Although V-C Sadhu Charan Panda resigned, following the demand by the students, the agitators called for a detailed inquiry into the alleged corruption and irregularities within the varsity. Their other demands included basic infrastructure facilities in the campus, immediate appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff according to the UGC norms, holding of regular classes, examinations and timely publication of results.
President of the varsity students' union Kanta Kishore Moharana said the administration has agreed to take up an enquiry apart from considering their other demands.
Even though the agitating students withdrew their agitation, the 22 temporary employees of the varsity who had been on an indefinite dharna since January 3 demanding regularization of jobs, continued their strike. Leader of the striking employees Prvat Mohanty said their agitation would continue till the final fulfillment of their demands.