Staffer turns Presi into family revelry

KOLKATA: If you walked past Presidency University on Saturday night, you would have thought that the college fest was on.
The gates remained open the whole night, there were floodlights at vantage points and microphones blared Hindi movie songs. Reason: the mukhey bhaat' ceremony of the grandchild of a group-IV employee of the university, who is a campus resident.
Naturally, no permission was taken for turning the campus into a party spot. So much for chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's dream "Presidency University" project.
At least 10 group-IV employees live in the two-storeyed building meant for them, adjacent to the main building of the university. One of them reportedly organised the party on the premises, taking advantage of the fact that Saturday is a "lean day" and the university premises become empty by 6 pm. Apparently, the child whose mukhey bhaat' ceremony was organised is not a family member of this staffer, but is a relative who came from outside.
According to reports that have reached the university authorities, food for the feast was cooked on the premises and served to guests in the canteen, union room and badminton court. Guests were received at the portico, where floodlights were arranged. Special lighting was also arranged for the passages leading to the rooms where the food was served.
Microphones were similarly arranged at vantage points to add fervour to the feasting and unconfirmed reports suggested that alcohol was also served to guests. "I don't know why so much of a hue and cry is being raised over this. This is not the first time resident staff members have organised ceremonies for their family on the premises. We ensure that this is done only during the weekend. It's a long-time practice. Anyone familiar with the university knows that students of the university consume many things other than just tea and coffee in the canteen," said an irate staff member.
Acting principal of the university, Amitava Chatterjee, sounded surprised. "This is certainly unacceptable. No one had taken permission from me for any feasting over the weekend. However, I have just received media reports about the wrongdoing and will have to find out for myself what actually happened. I will investigate the matter on Monday," he said.