Santiniketan VC leads protest against campus encroachment

KOLKATA/SANTINIKETAN: Protesting encroachments in the campus area, Bidyut Chakrabarty, vice chancellor of Visva Bharati staged a 12-hour fast near the entrance gate to the university on Monday, the first working day after summer break. He was joined by 250 teachers, students and other staff of the central university. Chakrabarty had earlier this week apprised the PM and the ministry of human resource development on the matter.
As many as 140 makeshift stalls had been doing business for the last couple of decades beside the entry-road inside the campus.
Chakrabarty said: “We have been trying to vacate the illegally occupied land of the university.We’ll not apply force to vacate them, this is an attempt to send them a message. We have provided them alternative land. We have discussed the matter with the the chairman of Sriniketan Santiniketan Development Area and minister Chandranath Sinha.”
Sinha said: “We didn’t find any integrity in his (VC) words. He had given the land to the hawkers very recently, at present it is nothing but a water body. We are equally concerned about the interest of Visva Bharati but probably by creating some stunt Chakrabarty is trying to give space to the political ideology in which he believes.”
Aminul Huda, a leader of the organisation of the hawkers said: “We can’t carry out our business in the alternative space. Who will develop the land and make construction? The VC had not told us anything in written.”
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References

1. ^{^} chancellor (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Sriniketan (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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