Kolkata: Principals at colleges in the city seem sceptical about the effectiveness of shutting down union rooms on campuses, wondering whether the move will be able to root out the rot that runs deep. Many pointed out that what went on inside the union rooms might simply shift to some other spots on the campuses as the issue was not with the physical space but with the people who created trouble.
The Calcutta High Court on July 3 ordered the state to put union rooms at colleges and universities here under lock and key and to pass an order so that no student can enter union rooms without a written permission from the registrar or the competent authority. All Bengal Principals' Council general secretary Manas Kabi said shutting down union rooms might be a stop-gap measure but not a permanent solution. "At Asutosh College, we have locked the union room but as an administrator, I feel it is our duty to identify the troublemakers, who are often outsiders, and restrict their entry," said Kabi, also the Asutosh College principal. Echoing him, a north Kolkata college principal said, "We have also locked our union room, but it is not a solution to the deep-rooted problem. The issue is not with the space but the people using it. Our former students with political links, along with local political workers, often use the space for their own activities. By closing the union room, this sort of activity will shift elsewhere on the campus, like the boys' common room or any other empty room. Unless principals are given full power of decision-making, things won't change. We need policy-level decisions to bring in change.
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Many students claimed a students' union election could bring back the democratic atmosphere of a campus as the elected members would be present to handle certain issues. Calcutta University closed its union rooms on all its campuses almost three months ago, much ahead of the recent HC order. A Rajabazar Science College research scholar said, "When I would leave the campus around 8 pm, I could see people drinking inside the union room. Now that the union room is shut, such things have decreased but there are many places on the campus that can be used similarly," said the researcher.
Pointing out that the problem lay with the place turning into an office of a political party and not a centre of activities for students, a south Kolkata college principal said, "Some contractual workers at our college with political affiliation sit with current and ex-students to plan political protests and activities. For colleges holding classes in multiple shifts, it is difficult to restrict the entry of outsiders.
"A Maharaja Manindra Chandra College student said, "If the troublemakers are meted out strict punishment, the situation can change. Or they will merely shift their activities to another spot on the campus.
""Our union rooms are accessed by all students, and it is a democratic space. The problem lies with the unrestricted entry of outsiders and their various unsocial activities," said Partha Pratim Ray, general secretary of Jadavpur University Teachers' Association.