Patna: In the wake of an attack by students on a senior offical, a university in India’s Bihar state has armed all its employees with well-oiled bamboo sticks to deal with troublemakers.
Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University (BNMU) located in Bihar’s Madhepura town, some 290 kilometres north of Patna, purchased 60 bamboo sticks and handed them over to employees on Thursday.
The move came after some student leaders scuffled with the university’s pro-vice-chancellor Farooque Ali, alleging lack of transparency in recruitment of staff.
It was apparently in an effort to deal with the growing unrest on the campus that the university registrar Neeraj Kumar, a retired army colonel, decided to arm all staff with bamboo sticks for self-defence.
The university administration is currently holding interviews to recruit computer operators and drivers on contract basis, but the student unions allege transparency is not being maintained in the hiring process.
The issue eventually led to the alleged scuffle between the pro vice-chancellor and student leaders on Tuesday, prompting the university administration to register a case against 25 students.
The registration of the case has only aggravated the situation as student groups have been holding protests on campus, affecting the functioning of the university.
Retired Colonel Kumar is among 10 retired army officers recently appointed as registrars of 10 of the state’s 12 universities by the governor who also happens to be the chancellor of all universities.
“The idea is aimed at protecting the university staff as their life is precious,” Kumar told the local media today.
But the idea has only infuriated the students who have vowed to reply in similar fashion. “We are living in a democratic country, and not in a state ruled by military. We won’t tolerate such orders,” warned a student leader Sonu Yadav. Another student leader Rahul Yadav said they too know how to give a perfect reply to sticks and abuses.
The Governor’s House has explained the reason behind appointing retired army officers as registrars of the universities. “Since Army officers are highly disciplined and strict and have little direct links with the functioning of the universities, they will streamline operations of these institutions,” was how Principal Secretary to the Governor Brajesh Mehrotra told the media earlier at their time of their recruitment.
