Calcutta, Aug. 12: Presidency and several other colleges are tightening the morality belt after a string of incidents at a shopping mall in Salt Lake.

Presidency authorities said the college would raise the minimum number of classes a student must attend to at least 90 per cent from 75, the norm in all Calcutta University-affiliated colleges.

Mamata Roy, the principal, said: “We must ensure a student seen in the classroom at the start of college on a given day is present till it gives over.”

The policing prompting has come from the university and the CPM-controlled West Bengal Principals’ Council.

Last Wednesday, a boy and a girl were found in a ladies’ room at City Centre and were charged with indecent behaviour and drinking in public. In other incidents, students have been arrested for harassing girls at the same mall.

“The City Centre episode has shaken us up. They (colleges) must realise it is their responsibility to have the students confined to the campus,” said Suranjan Das, the university’s pro vice-chancellor (academic).

Also planning greater policing are Bethune, Lady Brabourne, Asutosh, Shyamaprasad, Surendranath and Gokhale. Several colleges will ask a student to produce an application for leave from a parent for being absent for a day. A doctor’s certificate will be needed for longer absences.

“The more such prohibitive measures are imposed, the greater is the determination to break the rules,” said an English student.