SUP University Dean's office locked out against decision to add quota to private colleges

Mahendranagar: Students have launched a protest after Sudurpaschim University decided to increase the number of academic programs and students (quotas) to affiliated private colleges. The students are angry that the student quota has been set for private colleges starting from the new program, reversing the previous decision to make them affiliated campuses.

The students allege that the campuses, including the central campus, and those that have been decided to become affiliated, have become unmanaged and in disarray. In such a situation, they say that the university officials are trying to ruin the government campus by giving priority to private campuses and adding new academic programs and student quotas.

On Wednesday, students locked the office of Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Bhawani Chand, alleging that the CSIT faculty at the central campus is being weakened. The dean's office has been locked out indefinitely, saying that the CSIT faculty at the central campus needs to be improved, but the work of feeding private colleges is being done.

On 26 Jestha 2083, the university had decided to allow additional student numbers for BSc, CSIT and BBA programs for the current academic session to previously affiliated colleges. The university leadership is being criticized for ignoring the earlier decision to make Bhanu, Mahakali and Baijnath campuses in Kanchanpur part of the university and giving priority to private colleges.

Currently, a team of Dean Bhawani Chand of the Faculty of Science and Technology and Dean Keshavraj Bhatt of the Faculty of Management have been deployed to study the physical conditions to determine the additional student quota in private colleges. However, the controversy within the university has further escalated while the study team was deployed in the field.

Karnadev Bhatt, Head of the Faculty of Science and Technology (CSIT), has been publicly alleging through social media that there was financial manipulation in increasing the quota to feed private colleges against the work procedure.

Dean Bhawani Chand said that he was deployed in the field as per the responsibility given by the university. He said that after repeated requests from his own faculty colleagues, an on-site study was conducted by experts from Tribhuvan University. 'The Vice-Chancellor had instructed me to form a team to go to the field, study colleges in Pokhara, Tulsipur, Nepalgunj, Chitwan and Kathmandu and submit a report based on the facts seen in the field,' he said. He claims that the allegations of patronizing private colleges or financial manipulation are baseless.

The team led by Dean Keshav Raj Bhatt for the Faculty of Management includes experts Harishankar Pant and Birendra Prasad Bhatt. Dean Bhatt said that the report will be submitted after studying the physical condition of only two colleges for the Faculty of Management. 'There is no pressure from above, I will submit the report as per what is seen in the field,' he clarified.

Meanwhile, Acting Vice-Chancellor of Sudurpaschim University, Yagyaraj Pathak, said that it has been decided to increase the student quota as per the demand of privately affiliated colleges for the benefit of the university and to increase internal resources. "We have not given any new programs, we will only give additional quota to the colleges that are already in operation based on the report of the expert team," he said.

Claiming that the allegations of shares in private colleges and providing jobs to relatives are baseless, Vice Chancellor Pathak said that this decision was taken to increase the university's income. However, there is growing concern that such policy decisions by the university leadership will weaken the institution in the long run.