Delayed results and incomplete lessons are as much to blame for disruptions on campuses as student politics, education minister Partha Chatterjee said on Sunday.

The minister wondered at a conference of the Government College Teachers' Association why St. Xavier's College or the colleges run by Ramakrishna Mission, unlike Presidency or Jadavpur universities, didn't witness disruption.

"We usually assume that campus unrest is caused by students issues. But we don't consider whether the failure of the authorities is also responsible for unrest," Chatterjee said.

"It does not occur to us that delay in the publication of results or lessons remaining incomplete could lead to unrest on campuses. This is unfortunate.... Students' elections are not the sole reason why the academic ambience of campuses is getting vitiated."

The education minister made the statement in response to a comment from the association's general secretary, Anindya Sengupta, that growing campus violence was a source of concern.

A member of the association wondered what had prompted the government to put campus polls on hold if the elections were not the primary reason for unrest. "They must have viewed the elections as a potential cause of disruption on campuses."

The higher education department had in November issued an advisory asking colleges and universities to keep campus polls on hold to prevent any untoward incident in the run-up to the 2016 board/council exams.

On the delay in publication of results, the member said: "Instances of such lapses are on the decline and may not necessarily stoke disruptions. The recent disruption at JU stemmed from the government's attempt at imposing its advisory on the university."

Minister Chatterjee cited the example of St. Xavier's College and Ramakrishna Mission-run colleges. "I don't hear that classes are being disrupted, say, in Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission or St. Xavier's College. Then why this problem persists at Presidency University or Jadavpur University (JU). I think we need to delve deep to find out the reasons," he said.

JU had witnessed a prolonged boycott of classes by teachers and students in September 2014 to protest vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti's decision to call police to lift a gherao.

At Presidency University, students had occupied vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia's office from August 21 to 24 last year to press for her resignation. The immediate trigger for the demand was alleged police assault on students while chief minister Mamata Banerjee was leaving the campus on August 21. Debasish Sarkar, the president of the Government College Teachers' Association, said teachers could not be blamed for the recent disruption at JU or Presidency.

Building fire

A fire broke out at a locked office in a building on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road around 3pm on Sunday. Eight fire tenders doused the flames in an hour.