The hunger strike at Jadavpur University entered its fourth day on Thursday amid the education minister's call to the vice-chancellor to handle the situation 'more effectively' and the governor's call to the students to end the protest.

Twelve students have been on hunger strike since late on Monday demanding Abhijit Chakrabarti's resignation as VC for calling police to the campus to lift a gherao on September 16. An alleged crackdown on the students by the police team has kept the campus on the boil since.

On the eve of his meeting with Chakrabarti at Bikash Bhavan, education minister Partha Chatterjee said: 'The VC has to handle the situation more effectively as the stand-off on the campus can't be allowed to go on indefinitely.'

The minister added he could not ask Chakrabarti to step down, as is being demanded by the fasting students.

Since a university is an autonomous institution, the education minister cannot say how it should be run. Only the chancellor, governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, can ask the VC to resign.

'The fate of any VC can't be decided by popular opinion. But at the same time, I would maintain that he (Chakrabarti) has to be more effective in his approach,' the minister said.

The prolonged impasse on the campus has prompted the education department to try and restore normality by talking to the stakeholders, a senior official said.

On Thursday, the minister invited JU students through registrar Pradip Ghosh to meet him and discuss their grievances. The 12 fasting students will meet the minister at 3pm, after his talks with the VC.

Sources close to Chatterjee said the minister was upset with Chakrabarti for his failure to engage with the students.

Chakrabarti stayed away from the campus on Thursday, a day after he had left the university through a rear gate in the face of students' protests. He spent the entire day on the Salt Lake campus of JU.

Asked whether he would seek the minister's suggestion on how to end the deadlock, Chakrabarti said: 'I would brief him on everything.'

Governor Tripathi on Thursday said on the sidelines of the convocation at Vidyasagar University in Midnapore that the students should 'put an end to the hunger strike'.

Asked about the fast, he said: 'Who is stopping them (students) from putting an end to the hunger strike? They should feel proud of their university and discontinue the hunger strike.'

The students, however, are in no mood to call off their protest. Suvabrata Dutta, one of the fasting students, said they would tell the minister that the hunger strike would only be withdrawn after Chakrabarti resigned.

The blood sugar level of Dutta and two other fasting students - Shivam Ghosh and Sumit Kanjilal - dropped during the day, registrar Pradip Ghosh said.

'If the sugar level continues to drop, they will be advised hospitalisation.'