A section of students to continue protest until all demands are met
The Ministry of Education has issued a notification transferring the remaining construction work of Jagannath University's (JnU) second campus project to the Bangladesh Army.
The decision was issued by the Ministry of Education's Secondary and Higher Education Division on Thursday.
The notification, signed by Ahmed Shibli, deputy secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division (Planning-5 branch), confirmed that the project titled "Jagannath University New Campus Construction: Land Acquisition and Development," initially managed by the university, will now be completed under the supervision of the army.
The Bangladesh Army will take necessary measures to implement the remaining work and formulate the project for the construction of the new campus. To this end, a reevaluation of the ongoing project and preparation of the Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP) have been requested, the notification said.
In response to the notification, a section of protesting students has called off their ongoing shutdown programme.
However, another group of students have vowed to continue their protests until all their demands are met. The students have warned of strict measures if their third demand in the three-point charter is not addressed adequately.
Their demands are the transfer of the second campus project to the army for timely completion, the provision of temporary accommodation for students, and the arrangement of a housing allowance for at least 70 percent of students until temporary accommodation is available.
"We remain firm in our three-point demands, but certain groups abruptly called off the protests without consulting us," said BM Atikur Rahman Tanzil, a protest leader.
"We will continue our movement until our rights are secured. A meeting scheduled for today will determine our next course of action."
Vice-Chancellor Prof Rezaul Karim said, "Out of the three demands made by the students, two have already been fulfilled. The administration is actively working on the third one. By tomorrow, we will form a committee to address the issue, which will draft a proposal and send it to the University Grants Commission (UGC)."
Regarding the resumption of classes, he added, "We will be able to resume full academic activities from tomorrow. We also urge the protesting students to return to their academic commitments."
Source: The daily star