Berhampur, April 8: Nearly 600 students of Berhampur University today started boycotting classes in support of their 21-point demands outside the administrative building.

"All the 1,240 students in the university started boycotting classes from today. We will sit on a dharna for the next three days and resort to hunger strike if vice-chancellor Deepak Kumar Behera does not listen to our demands," said students' union president Dipak Pradhan. Union secretary Purnendu Priyatosh echoed the same.

The demands include holding of regular classes, restrictions on entry of heavy vehicles on the Mandiapalli-Karapalli PWD road that passes through the university campus, construction of a boundary wall around the campus and a probe into purchase of articles after cyclone Phailin.

Yesterday, postgraduate council chairman Prasant Kumar Padhi said a meeting had taken place between the students' representatives and the vice-chancellor. University registrar Manmath Padhi and others, too, were present at the meeting, in which the union's demands were discussed.

"Our approach towards the demands was positive, and the meeting went well. The university has tried to fulfil some of their demands within its limitations. But, there are many issues such as the provision of 24-hour health service to the students, closure of the state highway that passes through the campus and a few others - which are not under the purview of the university authorities," he said.

"The vice-chancellor and the registrar have taken up the issues that the authorities cannot resolve with district collector Prem Chandra Chowdhury at Chatrapur. The students must know the ground realities," Padhi said.

He said the collector and the chief district medical officer had to take a decision to provide a round-the-clock health service on the campus. Besides, any decision pertaining to vehicle movement on the Mandiapalli-Karapalli State Highway between 10.30am and 8pm is the discretion of the district administration.

However, the union president said the university authorities' response and approach at the yesterday's meeting was unsatisfactory.

"We submitted our list of demands on March 25 and had sought one-week time from the vice-chancellor. We again submitted the demand list on April 4 after he had gone on leave. He joined duty on April 6. It shows the vice-chancellor's indifferent attitude," Pradhan said.