Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty will lead a 12-hour hunger-strike on Monday to appeal to traders at a makeshift handicrafts market near the campus gate to remove their stalls and allow beautification.

Two months ago, the varsity had issued a notice asking the 40 stall-owners to clear out.

“We have arranged for an alternative place for the traders half a kilometre away. It (the protest) is our way of asking them to vacate. We received no marks on beautification in the last NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) rating. We want to clean the area soon because Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu will visit Santiniketan on August 16,” said Anirban Sircar, the varsity’s public relations officer.

The traders, however, said the new site was not in a good location, did not have proper road connectivity and was situated in a low-lying stretch.