Bhubaneswar, March 16: Tension gripped the Utkal University of Culture campus as students gheraoed the vice-chancellor's office to protest against lack of academic facilities in the varsity.

The students had locked up the main gate and other administrative offices for over three hours.

They rued that there was no proper infrastructure and inadequate teachers. They also alleged that there were no practical instruments available and no basic technological facilities such as computer systems.

"The situation here is extremely bad and we are very disappointed. We do not have a proper place or instruments to practice. We do neither have the Internet facilities nor do we get any chance to take part in the national-level festivals," said Mukteswar Senapati, a student.

The varsity website is also not upgraded. The students also complained that most of the days classes were not conducted. There are 19 sanctioned posts in the varsity and 50 per cent of it lies vacant.

"A number of departments such as animation and Buddhist studies have been shut down. The students of Jain studies used to be given scholarships. But, this has also been stopped," he said.

The protest was called off after the authorities had assured the students of looking into the matter in detail.

"We are trying to cater to the urgent problems such as lack of teachers and technological assistance. We will try to bring in guest lecturers till permanent staff members are recruited," said vice-chancellor Debendranath Jena.

The students also said that despite repeated assurance, the varsity had failed to shift to its new campus at Madanpur near Jatni.

"Earlier, we had made a number of complaints regarding lack of space, but the authorities have been telling us that once we shift to the new campus, the problem would get solved. However, we do not see any sign of reallocation as of yet," said another student.

The varsity had decided to shift to the new campus by April last, but it did not materialise. They had then rescheduled its plan to shift before Nabakalebar - which also did not happen. President Pranab Mukherjee, during his visit to the state last November, was supposed to inaugurate the new campus, but that did not work out, as the construction was not over by then.

This time, the authorities are confident of shifting to the new campus by the second week of March. "We are hopeful that the problem of infrastructure would be solved once we shift there. We have set a target to start the next academic session on the new campus," said Jena.

Former students of the varsity are, however, not very hopeful of any positive change in the varsity. Sai Ram, an alumnus, said: "We have staged many demonstrations, but nothing happened. Nothing has changed much over the years. Problems of lack of teachers and exposure have been there for a long time," he said.

The Utkal University of Culture was established in 1999 to preserve, promote, propagate and protect the cultural richness of the state.