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Cameras stopped:V-C buckles under pressure |
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Cameras stopped: V-C
buckles under LUSU pressure No more ‘camera
vigilance’ inside exam rooms; students to be allowed into campus between papers
Neha Agrawal Lucknow, March 7: IN the end, the student leaders had their way.
Buckling under pressure, Lucknow University (LU) Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Ram Prakash
Singh gave in to both their demands today — he not only agreed to let them into
the campus during the exams, but also shelved plans to activate CCTV
cameras inside the examination rooms. Although the annual exams began on Saturday,
the first camera became
operational only today. Earlier, Singh had revealed plans to install 26 cameras
in the examination rooms. The LU authorities had also barred all students, other
than those sitting for the exams, from entering the campus. But on Saturday itself,
a student leader, Amit Kumar Singh ‘Punju’, and a friend, had sneaked into the
campus, demanding to be allowed into the examination rooms and see the cameras.
The police had to use their lathis to force them out of the campus. On the second
day today, all the office-bearers of LUSU sat on a dharna at the main gate of
the university, protesting against the arrangements. The drama started just an
hour after the first exam began. LUSU vice-president Pawan Kumar Pandey, accompanied
by some supporters, reached the university gate and started shouting slogans against
the authorities. ‘‘VC teri tanashahi nahi chalegi; kulpati ki sirf teen dawai:
juta, chappal or pitai,’’ they shouted. Pandey was soon joined by other LUSU leaders.
They stuck to their demands: that the cameras
should not be installed in the examination rooms and that other students should
be allowed into the campus during the break between the morning and afternoon
papers. The students’ mob then tried to enter the V-C’s office but were stopped
by the police. The protests continued, till Singh finally called the student leaders
for a discussion. Meanwhile, some students blocked the traffic on the main road.
Some vehicles were damaged during the fracas. Some mediapersons were attacked
too. Emerging from the meeting with the V-C, the student leaders claimed victory.
‘‘The V-C has accepted that there will be no cameras
and students can enter the campus for one hour — from 11 am to 12:30 pm,’’ said
LUSU president Rajpal Kashyap. Proctor V D Mishra confirmed this. ‘‘The cameras
have been installed but they will not be activated this year,’’ he said.
LUSU leaders, however, refused to accept responsibility for the violence outside.
‘‘That was done by anti-social elements. The students were not a part of it,’’
said LUSU general secretary Ram Singh. The Proctor too rejected any suggestions
of taking action against students involved in the violence outside. from Express
India |
