18/Nov/2012 BGSBU strike enters 3rd day

Students Demand Supplementary Exams, Placement Imran Mmuzaffar Srinagar, Nov 17: Students of the College of Engineering and Technology Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) Rajouri boycotted their classes for the third consecutive day on Saturday against University for not holding supplementary examinations and failing to place the students. Students told Greater Kashmir over phone that the University was not holding supplementary examinations. “Those of us who have backlog in a semester have to wait for another year to pass it. We demand that a supplementary examination be conducted,” they said. They alleged the Varsity so far has been unable to place even a single pass out in any organization and an amount of more than Rs 75 lakh—which students pay for their placement—is unspent with insiders apprehending the amount may have been spent on Varsity’s construction work. “We will not call off the strike till we are placed somewhere. We have paid for it and it is the responsibility of the administration to call in companies for our placement,” a group of students said. “Moreover, the administration must conduct the re-examinations for the backlog candidates.” “We pay more than Rs 12000 for it (placement). If we pay fee for placement why doesn’t Varsity act,” they asked. Since 2007, the students alleged, no company has been invited for placement of students. “Not only our batch, many others were also deceived by the Varsity. No placement has taken place.” Pertinently, majority of students on strike in the University are from Kashmir. Greater Kashmir received a number of delegations, complaining that the Varsity was playing with the career of their wards. “There remains always something wrong. The administration has made the lives of our wards difficult there. Had it been a case of negligence on part of students we would be the first ones to pull them up. But the administration is playing a deceptive game with our wards at crossroads,” said a parent, Mushtaq Ahmad. When contacted, Registrar BGSBU M R Choudhary said the Varsity cannot initiate supplementary. “The problem is that semester system does not allow supplementary as is also the case in other universities. But what we have decided now is that a student has to clear four papers in first semester to seek admission in 5th semester,” he said, adding they have completely removed supplementary. Calling students as liars, he said placement was being well conducted. “Students are lying. We are very much into the placement. We have an independent cell to look into this matter,” the Registrar said.