Frustrated over continuous negligence towards their genuine demands, a final year journalism student of Ravenshaw University here on Wednesday evening made an attempt to commit suicide by consuming poison inside the chamber of the varsity registrar.
The student was immediately rushed to the nearby SCB Medical College and hospital where the doctors washed his stomach to bring him stable after nearly one hour.
Soon after the shocking incident, good senses prevailed upon the University authorities and University Vice Chancellor Prof B C Tripathy gave a written assurance that the demands of Journalism students would be fulfilled within seven days.
The journalism students of the University were pressing for fulfillment of their demands for last one year by staging dharna, boycotting classes and launching hunger strikes. But the authorities were not paying any heed to it following which; the disgruntled students had given an ultimatum to the authorities on Tuesday saying that if the authorities are not going to take any decision by 4 pm on Wednesday, then they would be responsible for any eventuality.
“While no decision came forth by the deadline, our friend Bidhansu Tripathy took out some insecticides from his pocket and consumed them inside the register’s chamber before anyone could react,” said Prakash Panda, a senior student of the department.
The students had resorted to indefinite hunger strike last year demanding that their department which is now being run by a private organisation under self-financing arrangement should be immediately taken over by the University.
“We were forced to take this drastic step as our long-standing demands for quality education with well-qualified and experienced teachers is not being paid heed by the private organisation,” Panda said.
Heritage Vision, a private concern is running the Post Graduate course of Journalism and Mass Communication in the University as a self-financing course without any valid MoU. “The MoU signed by the private organisation with the University has since been outlived its duration four years ago,” alleged Bikram Jena, another student.
“We are actually being taken for a ride by both the University as well as the Heritage Vision authorities who never bother to act according to the assurances they make,” said Binod Pradhan, another student of the department.