Students to professors locked up in Mahendra Morang Campus

BIRATNAGAR: AUGUST 25 – The Mahendra Morang Aadarsh Multiple Campus in Biratnagar has been in turmoil due to the ongoing agitation. Sometimes there are agitations in the name of partial professors, sometimes in the name of student organizations and sometimes in the name of student freedom.

On Tuesday, students locked in campus administration as well as financial administration. Although the demands for agitation and locked up on the campus are not of the same nature, the tendency of the agitation is the same. The nature of the movement by different groups of students and the tendency of the movement by the professors now are similar.

The same professors have given the example that the movement of those who think that the intellectual field can move intellectually is also a lockout.

What is the demand for a part-time professor?

There are 83 part-time professors in Mahendra Morang Aadarsh ​​Multiple Campus. They have been demanding contract appointments since last year. They demand service facilities like other professors in the state. The part-time professors, who have been agitating in different phases for a long time, have recently come and worked until the locked up of the campus.

They have demanded the appointment of 83 part-time professors of Mahendra Morang Aadarsh ​​Multiple Campus on a contract basis. The Mahendra Morang Aadarsh ​​Multiple Campus, a partial faculty association, has locked up the campus since July 4. The campus administration called for discussions and negotiations only after the locked down to put pressure on the campus administration, which did not pay much attention to the normal progress of the movement.

Bhabishya Mishra, chairman of the Mahendra Morang Multiple Campus Unit Committee, part-time professors’ association, informed that an agreement has been reached with the campus administration and the agitating party for a contract.

He said that an agreement has been reached to give contract appointments to 20 people from internal sources and to demand posts from the remaining 63 people from Tribhuvan University. On the basis of the same agreement, they opened the locked up on the campus on 23 July. Before the movement could be postponed, another group sat in a state of readiness with locks and keys in their hands. That group consisted of permanent professors teaching on campus, that is, various faculty associations.

The teachers do the locking

While the partial professors were protesting, another movement started in the name of the professors’ unions. Initially, an agitation was started against the campus administration in the name of the faculty association on 1 July. At the same time, the campus head’s office was locked down in the name of the campus faculty association. Soon another group of professors arrived to locked up. The office of the same campus head has been locked again in the name of Prajatantrik Pradhyapak Sangh and last time Madhesi Professors Association.

No one even knows when someone locks the campus. The recently locked Madhesi Professors’ Association has claimed that it has agitated for the overall good governance of the campus. Dr Pramod Kumar Kherwar, a member of the professors ‘association and president of the Mahendra Morang Campus Unit of the Madhesi Professors’ Association, said that they had agitated against corruption in the name of development by the campus administration. “Our demand is to issue a white paper to make campus administration transparent, he said, “No one is aware of the ongoing development work on the campus and the expenditure in the education sector. The question of transparency has been raised by making it public.”

Pressure to reduce fees

The students have started agitation again to the point of ruining the agitation of the professors who have been locking up since last Ashar (July/August). The students are agitating saying that the campus administration has taken the entire amount even for teaching online. After the master’s program went to the semester system, the campus had a discussion with the students about raising money from the students.

From the discussion, it was agreed between all the student organizations and the campus administration to pay 19 thousand 55 hundred per semester. The campus had been taking money on that basis. It was also said that a 15 per cent scholarship would be given on the basis of consensus. No scholarship was given, but the money was taken by the campus.

When COVID-19 started, the online classroom of the campus was started. MBS student leader Nabin Pahari said that they were agitating with the demand of not paying the service fee and 50 per cent discount after the students were told to pay the amount in full.

Our demand is that a 50 per cent discount should be given as online studies are being conducted in the coronavirus period. He said that the campus should take this issue seriously as no facilities were used during online studies.

They have also locked up the campus administration and financial administration since Tuesday. The financial and administrative work of the campus has come to a standstill from today. At the same time, the educational activities of the campus, which has been studying 8,000 students, have come to a standstill.

The locked-in financial administration will affect the schedule of filling up the form for the second semester of MSBS till 31 August, and the opportunity for MSc and MA students will be affected till Wednesday, the last day of the exam.

The campus administration has taken the daily locked up on the campus as a conspiracy to prevent it from working. Campus Chief Babu Ram Timalsina said that the partial professors who had locked the campus had withdrawn the agitation. He also said that he was outraged that the demand for professors was linked to the appointment of an assistant campus head.

Four people were appointed as assistant campus heads a few months ago. Dr Bishwadev Das from Nepali Congress, Basudev Mehta from UCPN (Maoist), Shiv Narayan Chaudhary from Forum and Dilli Pokharel from UML were appointed as Assistant Campus Chiefs. According to Chief Timalsina, they have been appointed in consultation with all the professors’ unions.

They have been recommended by the party. All parties had recommended. He said that they did not come even when called for talks.