Even as the question mark remains over whether Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor (VC) N. Prabhu Dev will quit his office to take up the new assignment as Chairperson of the Karnataka Health System Commission (KHSC), members of the Bangalore University Teachers’ Council (BUTC), SC/ST Teachers’ Association and Non-teaching Staff Association have threatened to boycott classes and work from Monday till he resigns. At a press conference in Bangalore on Friday, association members said they had had enough of Dr. Prabhu Dev’s “bad administration”. “He should quit gracefully. He should accept the new post and leave the university,” said BUTC president C.B. Honnusiddhartha. BUTC’s 300-odd members and members of the non-teaching association will boycott work from Monday, he said. Asked if the boycott is indefinite, BUTC members said the protest “will be in various forms” till the VC quits.
Meanwhile, a few non-teaching staff members and students staged a protest before the VC’s office in his absence demanding that their long-pending demands be fulfilled. While the non-teaching staff is asking for a hike in pay, the Ph.D. students want their coursework to commence. Registrar (Administration) B.C. Mylarappa pacified the protesters and said a Syndicate meeting will be called within a week to address their issues.
Foul play?
Postgraduate students also alleged foul play in the allotment of seats in the centralised counselling for PG seats. They said a larger number of seats than available had been allotted and demanded that it should be looked into.
