Authorities at the Panjab University (Chandigarh) have finally decided to keep the Guru Tegh Bahadur reading hall and the AC Joshi Library open for 12 hours (i.e. from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). The decision comes after a series of protests staged by PU students.
For quite some time now, students had been seeking access to the GTB reading hall, but after numerous failed attempts to persuade the authorities, they decided to launch a protest.
Students had gathered outside the Vice Chancellor’s office at 2:00 p.m. on April 25, but after getting no response from the senior management, they decided to take matters in their own hands. Things turned nasty as a windowpane of the GTB reading hall broke open. The university management was forced to call the policemen after scores of students started going berserk.
Inaugurated in December last year, the GTB reading hall was built in order to provide students with more reading space. The reading space within the library was cramped. Earlier, students used to sit on the floor of the library and read. Quite surprisingly, the hall wasn’t opened. Consequently, the students started protesting in order to bring about a change in the proceedings.
Throwing light on the series of events that had transpired, Kuldeep Pangal, President, ABVP (Panjab University) told Campus Watch, “We had been trying to get the hall opened since December last year, but all our attempts were in vain. Our voice had been falling on deaf ears.”
“The librarian had refused to give access to the library during the wee hours of the night citing security concerns. I, along with a group of volunteers, decided to spend a night at the library in order to look into the security concerns,” he added further.
Dean of Student Welfare (DSW), professor Emanual Nahar, said that the students had been called for negotiations, but they didn’t turn up. The student strength kept increasing and things started getting violent. They were left with no option but to call the police.
When Campus Watch got in touch with Kanupriya, president of the Students’ Council, she said, “Baseless allegations of violence had been made against the students. Examinations are round the corner and we have been spending our time while protesting against the management. The management hasn’t given us access to the reading halls even after inaugurating.”
Congratulating students on their victory, she said, “Something as big as this has happened for the first time within the university.”
The Guru Teg Bahadur reading hall can accomodate close to 500 students. Additional seating capacity can be generated if the need arises. Furthermore, the overall seating capacity in the campus stands at somewhere around 1200. This includes reading halls in various places within the university.
In a congratulatory message, Kuldeep Pangal said that this is for the first time in the history of the university that the library has remained open from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Featured image for representative purpose only.
Featured image source: Shivam Jain Kakadia/Wikipedia.
The post Rejecting Absurd Timings, Panjab Uni’s Library Will Now Remain Open Through The Night appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.