Alleging inefficiency and indifference on the part of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) officials, BPUT students and members of Biju Patnaik Students’ Association (BSA) staged a demonstration and burnt effigies of university officials here on Monday.
More than 100 students protested shifting of BPUT camp office from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela and also their skeletal strength of officials functioning at the university. The members of BSA stated that though they have been agitating across the state against shifting of the camp office, their demands have not been heeded to. The students have also raised questions about BPUT’s efficient functioning with the minimal staff. On an average around 20,000 students take admission into engineering colleges every year. “The reasons for delay in publication of results and examination-related problems is shortage of officials,” said one of the agitating students. There are around 63 colleges located in and around Bhubaneswar. The students of these colleges were dependent on the camp office to apprise authorities of their grievances or make queries. “With the shifting of the camp office, there will be a major plunge in the accountability of BPUT with none of its branches functioning in the Capital,” said another agitating student. Cases like issuing of original certificates in time, proper utilisation of university welfare funds, publication of results and conducting examinations in time will be affected if the staff strength of the university is not increased, alleged the agitating students.