Silvester D’Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur

Kundapur, Aug 28: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held a protest in Kundapur on Wednesday August 28, demanding immediate action on various issues affecting college students, including hostel admissions, the appointment of lecturers in degree colleges, and addressing the broader challenges faced by Mangalore University.

Currently, over 75,000 students are studying across 188 colleges under Mangalore University, which is reportedly plagued by numerous issues. Although two months have passed since the academic year began for pre-university students and degree exams have concluded across all universities in the state, hostel admissions have not yet commenced. This delay is causing significant hardship for underprivileged but talented students. ABVP Udupi district co-convenor Darshan urged the government to start hostel admissions immediately and to increase the number of available hostel seats.

Darshan also highlighted the ongoing problem of inadequate faculty in degree colleges, which forces students to attend classes without proper instruction and face exams unprepared. He called on the government to expedite the recruitment of lecturers without further delay.

Karthik, another ABVP district leader, pointed out that many final-year students who appeared for their semester exams last month are struggling to access their mark sheets through DigiLocker, despite 10 days having passed since the results were announced. He noted that the university charges Rs 280 annually for processing mark sheets and certificates, yet it has failed to deliver them on time, causing frustration among students seeking higher education and employment opportunities.

Additional issues raised by Karthik include delayed exam results, zero refunds after revaluation, and the misappropriation of sports fees collected by the university. He cited last year's data, which shows that while the university spent approximately Rs. 1.68 crore on sports, it collected around Rs 2.23 crore from just 51 colleges, leading to suspicions of misuse of funds and a demand for an investigation.

The ABVP students marched from Shastri circle to the taluk office, where they staged a protest. They later submitted a memorandum to Tahsildar Shobha Lakshmi before ending the protest.

The protest was led by ABVP Udupi district coordinator Karthik, district co-coordinator Darshan Shetty, taluk coordinator Akash, and key activists including Pratham, Rakshan, Shashi, Vigneshwar, Dhvani, Sinchana, and Vaishnavi.