Bhubaneswar: The Ravenshaw University Teachers’ Association (RUTA) on Saturday decided to wear black badges indefinitely and approach Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati over various issues concerning the university, including alleged “political interference” on the campus.
The decisions were taken at a general body meeting of the association held at the dharna site in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office at around 3.30 pm on Friday, RUTA spokesperson Prof Netaji Abhinandan said on Saturday.
“We staged a dharna yesterday (August 28) in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office, protesting ‘political interference’ on the campus and demanding revocation of the notification regarding the formation of a new residence committee. At the general body meeting held at the dharna site yesterday, two decisions were taken,” Abhinandan said.
The first decision was to wear black badges indefinitely until their demands are met. However, teachers will continue to discharge their academic responsibilities as usual, he said.
“We will continue all our academic activities smoothly. We will take classes, guide students, attend to hostel-related work and carry out all other academic duties as usual. But we will wear black badges as a mark of protest,” Abhinandan said.
The second decision was to seek an appointment with the Governor within the next week and apprise him of their grievances, he said.
“We will meet the Governor and place before him all our problems and grievances. We will request him to intervene in the matter. We have decided to seek an appointment and are preparing a detailed memorandum of demands to submit to him,” Abhinandan said.
The teachers launched the agitation again on August 28, alleging that Vice-Chancellor Arka Kumar Das Mohapatra had failed to provide clarification on the alleged external interference on the campus or take steps towards addressing their demands.
The association has demanded that the university make public the steps taken to restore the respect and dignity of teachers. It has also sought a thorough inquiry into the incident at East Hostel.
Among its other demands is the issuance of a rebuttal to the letter allegedly sent by an MLA to the Speaker. The teachers have also demanded the immediate revocation of the notification issued on August 13 regarding changes to the residence committee and the assignment of duties and responsibilities to the university’s previous residence committee.
The association said it would continue with its academic and other university-related responsibilities while pursuing its agitation through the black-badge protest.
