Music college protest

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Burdwan, Dec. 14: Second-year students of a Burdwan music college, most of whom failed to clear the final exams, locked the main gate from outside and did not allow the teachers to enter today.

The students of Padmaja Naidu College of Music, the only music college under Burdwan University, claimed that external examiners from Calcutta had not heard them properly during the practicals. Only two of the 30 students cleared the exam.

Waving flags and festoons, the second-year students demonstrated in front of the college, barely 500 metres from the varsity's administrative building in Burdwan town, for over six hours from 10am. They demanded that the principal, Abul Hasan Mondal, be removed. The students claimed Mondal was responsible for the poor marks they got in the exam, held on May 13. The results were announced on December 8, about four months behind schedule.

While two students got 72 and 58 out of 100 — the pass mark being 40 — 16 got between 13 and 39, and 12 between 10 and 12. Twenty-eight of the 30 students are girls.

The demonstration was led by the Trinamul Congress-affiliated Chhatra Parishad. College union general secretary Sumitra Das said: "I may have got 58 marks but I have to think about my classmates. The students failed because the practical exam was not conducted properly."

"The external examiners were from Calcutta. They did not listen to our songs properly because they were in a hurry to return to Calcutta," she added. Das said the students would stall classes till the authorities agreed to hold the test again.

Principal Mondal was not available for comment as he is recuperating at his home in Memari, 30km from the college, after prolonged illness. Vice-principal Saroshi Mohan Das said: "The students have demanded that the practical exam be held again. But I will have to discuss the matter with the principal."

Jayanta Mullick, a teacher of the classical music (vocal) department, said: "The students did not allow us to enter the college."