Deepak Kumar Roy, the vice-chancellor of the Raiganj University (RU), has blatantly accused the non-teaching staff of the institution of creating an impasse at the varsity.

Since December 4, the non-teaching employees of RU have been engaged in a protest movement against the suspension of one of their colleagues by Roy, and are organising demonstrations under the banner of the Sara Bangla Trinamool Shiksha Bandhu Samiti.

On Sunday, Roy issued a press release, saying that due to the ongoing agitation and strike of non-teaching employees, work at the controller of examinations wing of the varsity has stopped.

“As a result, all work related to the publication of results and examinations of students is being disrupted. Despite repeated requests, they are not joining work. The library and classrooms are not being opened regularly. Bathrooms are not being cleaned. Those who want to work are also being prevented,” said the release.

According to varsity sources, around four months back, the VC served a showcause notice to a non-teaching employee for allegedly commenting against the institution.

The employee sent his reply to the showcause to the VC, but he was dissatisfied with it and suspended him.

The RU unit of Sara Bangla Trinamool Shiksha Bandhu Samiti has been protesting for more than a month, demanding the suspension order be lifted.

On December 4, they confined the VC for hours in his chamber. He fell ill and had to be hospitalised. Since then, the non-teaching staff have been demonstrating every day.

Roy, on the other hand, is not visiting the varsity. He works from home.

In Sunday's press release, he added: "Due to the agitation, if any student of RU faces any problem in his or her studies in the future, the non-teaching employees have to take the responsibility.”

Contacted, Roy said that he had issued the press release to inform people in general about the situation in RU.

“Due to this movement, the studies at the university have almost come to a standstill. This is unacceptable. I have issued this release to inform the general public about the entire situation,” said the VC.

His move has earned support from varsity teachers.

Debasish Biswas, president of the teachers' council, said: "We cannot compromise with students' studies for anything. We had arranged special classes in the evening because of this movement. But that is not enough. We cannot allow the future of the students to be affected.”

Non-teaching employees blamed Roy.

“The VC is not ready to sit us for talks. He forced us to protest but we are putting in our best efforts to ensure that academic activities are not hampered,” said Bijoy Das, an observer at the RU unit of the Sara Bangla Trinamool Shiksha Bandhu Samiti.

“He has political goals and is trying to malign us. Instead of trying to end the impasse, he is complicating the situation," Das alleged.