Calcutta: The anti-ragging committee of Jadavpur University has “proposed” installation of CCTV cameras at the hostels, a senior official of the university told The Telegraph on Monday afternoon.
In the evening, the same official told this newspaper that no such decision had been taken and the executive council, the institution’s highest decision-making body, would “discuss” the issue of CCTV cameras in its next meeting.
The second statement followed protests by a section of students opposed to CCTV cameras at the hostels and on the campus.
“No decision regarding the installation of CCTV cameras has been taken. The executive council will discuss the matter in its next meeting,” the official said in the evening.
But around a couple of hours ago, the official had said: “The executive council will take the final decision. But the anti-ragging committee of the university has proposed the installation of CCTV cameras at the hostels....”
The protests by the students opposed to CCTV cameras started soon after word spread out about the anti-ragging committee’s “proposal”.
A first-year student died on Wednesday, hours after he was allegedly thrown from a second-floor balcony of the main hostel. The university has started an inquiry to find out whether the victim, who was a minor, had been ragged.
In the past, such dilly-dallying in the face of protests has led the JU to abandon steps that had been decided upon by the administrators.
After one such series of protests in 2013, Souvik Bhattacharyya had to resign as vice-chancellor.
Leave notice
The authorities have asked all former students to vacate the hostel in three days. “A physical verification will be conducted on Wednesday or Thursday,” an official said on Monday, after a meeting of the anti-ragging committee.
Sourav Chowdhury, a former student, has been arrested in connection with the death. Many other former students continue to live in the hostel, said boarders.
The joint secretary of the UGC’s anti-ragging cell had asked JU to submit by Monday the report of its inquiry into the complaint of ragging that allegedly led to the death of a first-year student. The committee met before sending the report to the UGC, said JU officials.
Guests
The administration has sought a formal record of everyone living at the hostels. That includes “guests” whose names are not in the logbook.
The first-year student who died lived as a guest of Chowdhury.
“We cannot accommodate all first-year students in the hostels. Some live as guests. There are no formal records for them. Now, we have asked all official occupants of the rooms to declare the names and details of their guests,” said registrar Snehamanju Basu.