Utkal students seek ouster of registrar

BHUBANESWAR: Students of Utkal University on Monday staged a demonstration outside vice chancellor Ashok Das' office demanding the ouster of registrar Banani Mohanty for her alleged "anti-student" and "anti-development" approach.
The protestors highlighted grievances of mainly teachers and non-teaching employees when they met the VC, fuelling speculation that the students had the backing of varsity staff members.
The protesters said the registrar withdrew vehicles provided to controller of examinations S K Das and comptroller of finance Gourang Debdas without issuing any written order in a humiliating manner to them. This has affected their functioning. At the same time, the registrar has deployed a retired person as deputy registrar and given him a vehicle, they said. Debdas and Das, when contacted, declined to comment on the withdrawal of their vehicles though varsity insiders confirmed such a development about a month ago.
The students said the registrar had held back pensions of retired employees for months together despite having all the clearances. The employees were not getting increments, they added.
The students told the VC that the registrar also deliberately delayed releasing dearness allowance to the employees for a month. They said teachers of Vanivihar High School in the university were not getting promotions despite a departmental promotion committee (DPC) meeting being held in February.
The students said that because of the registrar's negative approach, repair works of staff quarters and hostels were pending. "We have given the VC 48 hours to respond, after which we will decide on our next course of action," said Deepak Bhal, one of the protesting students.
The VC assured the students that he would look into the issues raised by them. The registrar could not be contacted for comment as she did not take phone calls.