Cuttack: The authorities of Ravenshaw University have decided to reopen the institution on Saturday. The varsity had been closed indefinitely since Tuesday evening "in view of the ongoing students' unrest and deteriorating academic atmosphere on the campus".
The decision to reopen came after a meeting of the residence committee and consultation with the district administration on Friday that was convened after the students called off their agitation.
"The varsity will open at 5pm on Saturday and the boarders will be allowed to enter their respective hostels after that," vice-chancellor Ishan Patro told The Telegraph.
Since the varsity's closure, pressure had been mounting on the authorities to reopen because the semester examinations had been disrupted because of it.
While the sixth semester examination of undergraduate courses and fourth semester examination of postgraduate courses were under way, the entrance examination for admission to different postgraduate courses was scheduled to be held from May 22.
"The semester examinations will be conducted from May 17 to 20 and the results will be declared on May 27. The entrance examinations will be held on schedule," Patro said.
Patro said the summer vacation will start from May 28 and the boarders will have to vacate the hostels the same day.
"However, there will be no change in hostel beds after the vacation ends on July 5," he said.
The student unrest had centred around the Ravenshaw Chhatra Kriyanustan Committee's demand for withdrawal of the order to hike fees for self-financing courses and to vacate hostels on May 28.
The vice-chancellor said: "The decision to hike fees for self-financing courses will remain unchanged but the government will be moved to convert the self-financing courses into regular courses."
Ravenshaw Bikash Abhijan, which had sought intervention of the governor for reopening of the university, expressed satisfaction with the latest development. "We are happy that the impasse has been broken and normality has returned at Ravenshaw University," the outfit's president Chittaranjan Mohanty said.
