West Bengal college union polls to remain suspended

Kolkata: Responding to protests against the suspension of college union polls by students, the West Bengal Higher Education Council said on Saturday that the decision would not change.

"The directive of the state government to defer college union polls for the next six months will not change under any circumstances. It is still in effect," Sugato Marjit, chairman, Higher Education Council, West Bengal, said here. Presidency University students took to the streets on Friday to protest the suspension of college union polls, saying the West Bengal government was interfering with the institution`s autonomy. The government has deferred college union polls across the state for the next six months in the aftermath of the Garden Reach incident where a police officer was shot dead while trying to control clashing students in Harimohan Ghose College on February 2. Marjit said: "In colleges where the student union`s term has ended, a system of interim management will be followed in accordance with the provision in the statutes of the university." "In case of institutes where the statutes have not been drafted yet, vice chancellors will take the decisions," he added. IANS