Cotton College: After a dress code, an entry code

Aug. 5: Several colleges in the city have decided to impose a restriction on the entry of outsiders.

“Unwanted elements sneak into the campuses even during class hours creating trouble. At a meeting held recently, principals of the colleges have decided to take a series of steps to restrict their entry,” said an office-bearer of the Guwahati unit of the Assam College Teachers’ Association.

The principal of B. Borooah College, Dinesh Baishya, said the college authorities have implemented a slew of measures to prevent such incidents.

Private security guards have been posted in front of the college gate to step up vigil on the campus. The guards have been asked to check the identities and antecedents of visitors before allowing them in. Students not carrying identity cards will be denied entry.

After introducing the code of conduct among students, the century-old Cotton College has also decided to regulate entry of outsiders.

Visitors will not be allowed to loiter on the college premises during class hours. The general secretary of the Cotton College Union Society (CCUS), Samiran Baishya, said: “Ours being a government college and an elite institution, the number of visitors is more compared with that in other colleges.”

“We have, however, asked the authorities concerned not to allow the disturbing elements enter the college premises,” he said. The administration of Pragjyotish College has also decided to follow suit.

A teacher of the college said movement of outsiders would be strictly monitored and they would be frisked at the gate. Sources said authorities of Gauhati Commerce College, Pandu College, S.B. Deorah College and R.G. Baruah College had also decided to restrict entry of outsiders.

Former leaders of college unions have welcomed the decision. Former general secretary of the B. Borooah College Union, Imdad Hussain, said there had been several instances when outsiders, mostly young men, entered the college premises either to tease or date the girls. “They even used to pick up fights with students,” he said.

Former general secretary of the CCUS, Jagadish Dutta, also welcomed the move.

“These outsiders always create nuisance on the campus. A person who wants to enter the college without valid ground should be denied entry.”