Other States - Orissa   

Students up in arms against Minister

BHUBANESWAR: Students from different colleges across the State and Utkal University on Thursday held demonstrations demanding resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Bishnu Charan Das whose son’s marks were found to be higher than the evaluation.

Students of Utkal University locked the main gate of the campus and insisted on closure of offices of Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and PG Council Chairman protesting the alleged fraud in the system. They also burnt effigies of the Minister. “We have failed to understand as to how computer errors were found in case of a son of the Minister only. It is embarrassing that a Minister, who is in-charge of primary education of the State, went on to increase his son’s marks,” Santanu Kumar Sia, a student of Utkal University, said.

If the Minister did not tender his resignation or was not dismissed within one-month time, the agitation would be intensified further, he warned.

Students of Rajadhani College and BJB College too took to streets demanding action against Mr. Das. They resorted to sloganeering inside the campus. Heavy security arrangement was made

Reports from Bolangir, Berhampur and Balasore said students came out to hold demonstrations demanding resignation of Mr. Das.

After the controversy came to the light, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered an inquiry by Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy, who visited the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) office at Cuttack recently.

Mr. Tripathy on Thursday said he would take another couple of days to complete his investigation.

Meanwhile, main opposition party Congress alleged that State government was trying to cover up the issue by making it investigated by Chief Secretary. “Lakhs of students have lost their faith in the education system after the fraud in enhancing marks surfaced,” said Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Jayadev Jena said.

Addressing a press conference, senior Congress legislator Umesh Swain demanded a criminal case be registered against the Minister for taking the ‘unscrupulous’ means to increase his son’s marks.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Orissa festival in Chennai from Sept. 15
Distribution of coins through SBI branches
A touching farewell from jail inmates
Road in bad shape: villagers threaten stir
Man ends life
Students up in arms against Minister
Two Maoists arrested
Fake lubricant oil in circulation everywhere
CPI (M) stages road blockade
STA goes hi-tech for road safety

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu