Students’ dharna in front of the the Institute of Pharmacy in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, May 19: The students closed the Institute of Pharmacy in Jalpaiguri today, protesting against the examination system and lack of infrastructure at the institution.

The closure followed poor results of the students in the first and second year examinations in which more than 50 per cent of them have failed in one or more subjects.

Run under the West Bengal University of Health Sciences, the institute is the only one of the kind under the direct control of the state health department. The students are offered four-year B.Pharm course at the institute.

“Unlike other institutions, where technical courses are offered and exams are held in May and December every year, we have to appear in exams in January and June, followed by four-five months’ wait for results,” said Ankush Mondal, the general secretary of the SFI-affiliated Students’ Union, Institute of Pharmacy, Jalpaiguri. “This is creating problem for us and those who pass out are finding it tough to attend placement sessions conducted by companies.”

The union said since the results were published barely 10 to 20 days before the examination of the preceding semester, those who failed in any paper hardly got time to prepare.

“We are studying in an under-graduate institute where the facilities are available only for the diploma course. There is not even a librarian posted at the college,” said a student.