Classes in many colleges of Assam were partially hit on Monday following a class-boycott call by the Assam chapter of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) against the state government’s imposition of a few criteria for availing free admission by the students from financially-poor background.

The students’ organisation opposed the government’s condition that a student must have minimum 75 per cent attendance and no back paper in previous examinations.

They said the newly-introduced criteria were tactics of the government to withdraw the free-admission scheme.

The members of the organisation held protest marches and sit-ins outside the colleges in support of their demands.

“Students in many colleges have boycotted classes in response to our call,” the state general secretary of the AIDSO, Prajjwal Deb, said.

He added that many poor students get engaged in income-generating activities like giving tuition for which they could not attend classes.

“Moreover it is the government’s responsibility to improve the academic environment of the colleges so that the students do not have to appear for back paper. The academic environment in colleges is languishing under myriads of problems like shortage of teachers. We are sensing that the government is going to backtrack from the scheme,” he said.

The government this year has also made it mandatory for below poverty line (BPL) students to plant saplings either in their colleges or houses.