Students and employees try to force open the university gate on Thursday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Students of regular postgraduate courses at Patna University staged a protest at the administrative block on Thursday against the varsity’s decision to postpone their examinations.

The regular course (MA, MSc) students locked the varsity’s main gate, disrupting activities. The protest came a day after students of self-financing courses allegedly assaulted the dean of students’ welfare, K.N. Paswan. The students were on hunger strike, as the chancellor’s office is yet to give its nod for running 10 vocational courses, which changed from a yearly examination system to a semester one.

They were also demanding the MA and MSc postgraduate (regular) examinations to be postponed. Succumbing to pressure, the Patna University administration on Wednesday night decided to postpone examination of all regular courses till further order. Following the decision, the postgraduate (regular) students went on protest against the varsity’s decision to postpone the examinations, on Thursday.

Ankit Prasad, a postgraduate history student, said: “We support the demands of the students of the self-financing courses. But, our examination should not be postponed. We are running late by six months already and any more delay to the session will mean we would lose one year.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the administration had postponed the MA, MSc (regular) examinations because of protests by the self-financing course students.

K.N. Paswan, the dean of student’s’ welfare, who was allegedly pushed and assaulted in his office on Wednesday, said: “The university on Wednesday evening decided to postpone the examination of the regular courses, but now those students are protesting against the move.”

He added that the university was in a fix, as two groups of students at the same time over conducting the examinations.

On the chancellor’s nod to the self-financing courses, he said: “The situation will improve in the coming days. The chancellor only has to sign on the approval to the 10 self-financing courses. The future of the students would not be jeopardised.” The 10 vocational courses include MSc in biotechnology, biochemistry, environment science, MA in safety management, and rural development and MBA.

The varsity, on the directive of the University Grants Commission, introduced a semester system in all its postgraduate courses, including the self-financing ones, last year in anticipation of the chancellor’s approval.

All the regular courses got the Raj Bhavan’s nod but the self-financing courses are yet to receive it.

The Patna University’s main administrative block turned ugly on Wednesday when some students allegedly assaulted Paswan. Later in the night, he registered an FIR against unknown persons.