Kartik Kumar
Pakur
Students locked the gates of KKM College in Pakur on Wednesday to protest the alleged steep reduction in undergraduate seats at the college and other institutions across Santhal Pargana under Sido Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU).
The protesting students submitted a memorandum addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, demanding immediate withdrawal of the decision and restoration of the seats.
Student leader Kamal Murmu said students had already warned the university administration about the issue, but no concrete action had been taken so far.
According to the seat allocation issued by the university, the number of undergraduate seats at KKM College has reportedly been reduced from 4,800 to 1,800. Students said the decision could affect the higher education prospects of thousands of young people.
They pointed out that Santhal Pargana is an economically backward region where a large number of families depend on agriculture, daily wage labour and other forms of manual work. Any reduction in seats at government colleges, they said, would disproportionately affect poor, tribal, Dalit and rural students.
The students also demanded that the university administration make public the subject-wise sanctioned seats and actual enrolment figures for all constituent and affiliated colleges in Santhal Pargana from the previous academic year.
They said that if seats had remained vacant despite eligible students being unable to secure admission, the university should clarify the reasons and make the relevant data public.
The protesters demanded restoration of all previously approved seats at KKM College, admission of all eligible students this year, an increase in seats across colleges in Santhal Pargana in proportion to student demand, immediate withdrawal of the seat-reduction order and consultation with students and colleges before taking such decisions in the future.
