Students of South Asian University (SAU) are helplessly watching the spread of a dengue outbreak on the campus amid alleged inaction by the university administration.

Several students said nearly 40 hostel inmates were currently suffering from dengue fever. The virus started spreading four days ago, they said, but the university is yet to fumigate the campus premises.

They said the small healthcare facility with just one doctor was unable to address the needs of the students and there were no ambulances on the campus to shift a patient.

Despite the problems they are facing, the students said they were unable to protest against the “negligence” of the university authorities because they were made to sign and submit an undertaking stating that they would not take part in any agitation against the administration on any issue.

This year, the SAU authorities have made the students of the fresh batch sign the undertaking with several provisions.

One of the provisions says: “I hereby declare that I will neither join in any agitation/strike for the purpose of forcing the authorities of the university to resolve any problem, nor I will participate in any activity which has a tendency to disturb the peace and tranquillity of academic environment of the SAU campus and/or its Hostel premises.”

“The situation on the campus is very scary. We are unable to take part in protests because we have signed the undertaking. The senior students are scared to protest because the university has already expelled three of them last year,” said a
student.

The university has suspended four faculty members who had disapproved of the expulsion of students without following due procedure.

The university had witnessed students’ protests last October over the demand to raise the stipend for post-graduate students from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 a month and
an increase in the support for PhD students from Rs 25,000 per month to the amount being given to Junior Research Fellowship candidates.

The students have also been demanding representation in the forums to deal with sexual harassment, but the university has rejected all these demands.

The students alleged that the university did not consult any student before bringing a provision in the undertaking to deny them the right to protest.

An email has been sent to the SAU acting president Ranjan Kumar Mohanty seeking his comments on the allegations of negligence and dengue outbreak on the campus. His response is awaited.