Amid staff protest, students hit hard as exams conducted at far-off centres

Deepkamal Kaur

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Jalandhar, May 31

Amid the ongoing deadlock between the managements of colleges and the state government over the issue of centralised admission process, students from various private colleges across the state faced difficulties as they had to travel to far-off centres to take exams.

Made to Sit in canteens

• There was a huge rush at GNDU College on Ladowali Road in Jalandhar as the students of the host college and those from Doaba College, DAV College and St Soldier College had to appear at the same centre
• Some students had to be shifted to the building of adjoining Government College of Education. The students said that they were made to sit in staff rooms, libraries and even the canteen or other places with chairs and tables

As the staff of 250 colleges had announced that they would boycott exam duties in protest against centralised admissions, Panjab University had cancelled today’s examination and Guru Nanak Dev University had set up centres in its constituent colleges. Several students enrolled at colleges affiliated to Punjabi University faced difficulties as they reached their examination centres, unaware that they were shut.

There was a huge rush at Guru Nanak Dev University College on Ladowali Road in Jalandhar as the students of the host college and those from Doaba College, DAV College and St Soldier College had to appear at the same centre. The authorities were forced to accommodate accommodate a large number of students in small halls. Some students had to be shifted to the building of the adjoining Government College of Education. The students said that they were made to sit in staff rooms, libraries and even canteens or other places where there were chairs and tables.

Dr Ajay Sareen, Principal of Jalandhar’s HMV College, said that even though the entire staff was at a dharna today, the college had to make arrangements for the students to be able to reach the centre. “We have girls in the hostel. There are many students residing in PG accommodation around the campus and were not aware of the location of GNDU Regional Campus at Ladhewali. We had to provide buses to all students who sought help,” she said. The St Soldier group had also provided bus facilities to the students.

Dr Anoop Watts, Principal of Nakodar’s KRM DAV College, said, “Though we tried to inform the students about the change of examination centre, there were a few students who could not be reached. When they came to the college this morning, our staff had to ferry them to the exam centres in their cars.”

Meanwhile, no attempt was made today to break the deadlock between colleges and the state government. Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women Principal Dr Navjot said the government’s justification that the centralised admission webiste would bring transparency to the process was farcical.

“None of the 136 aided colleges has refused to provide any data on admission or on scholarship beneficiaries. It seems that the bureaucracy and the government have made up their mind to give benefits to the private universities in Punjab,” she added.

Reacting to the situation, state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted: “The AAP Punjab is resorting to dictatorial means to centralise admissions for the benefit of private universities, putting the future of the students at stake.”