The ‘indefinite’ fast on the Presidency University campus on Sunday. Picture by Sanat Kr. Sinha

Twenty Presidency University students are on an “indefinite” fast on the campus to demand that they be allowed to write the semester exams starting Tuesday despite having inadequate attendance.

Altogether 180 students have been barred from writing the exams.

Presidency rules — based on UGC guidelines — make it mandatory for the students to attend at least 75 per cent classes (theoretical classes for science students) to be eligible to write exams.

Vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia, invoking her discretionary power, has lowered the cut-off to 50 per cent. But even then as many as 180 students were found ineligible to write the exams.

University officials said some of the students leading the protest have attendance below 10 per cent.

The “indefinite” fast started on Saturday evening. On the second day, students of the Jadavpur University — who have stopped responding to roll calls as part of their anti-VC protest — visited the College Street campus to show solidarity with the fasting students.

“Presidency students attend seminars, debates and other activities that keep them away from classes. The authorities must put in place a system to ensure that students don’t suffer because of attending such events,” said Sumalya Mukhopadhyay, the president of the Presidency University Students’ Union.

An official said the 75-per cent rule had been posted on the university’s website in June 2012.

“The VC had made it clear at a students’ orientation programme on July 21 — held to welcome the new batch of undergraduate and postgraduate students — that the university would enforce the 75-per cent rule, as stipulated by the UGC,” the official said.

“Students’ union representatives and many of the fasting students had attended the programme as it was held in association with the union.”

One of the students barred from writing the exams alleged that at last year’s orientation programme then VC Malabika Sarkar had mentioned that the rule on attendance would be flexible.

“But the new vice-chancellor said the opposite. The flip-flop by the authorities has misled the students,” the student said.

Sarkar, who had been Presidency’s interim VC till May 2014, told Metro that she had not mentioned attendance in her lecture at last year’s orientation programme.

“If someone is saying that I had spoken about being liberal on attendance during the orientation day lecture, this is untrue. I have spoken at two orientation day programmes — in 2012 and 2013. On neither occasion did I raise the issue of attendance,” said Sarkar.

The 15-odd JU students who had turned up on the College Street campus during the day sniffed a conspiracy aimed at scuttling the Jadavpur movement in the Presidency authorities’ stand.

“Presidency students had stayed with us for days to make the JU protest a success. The Presidency authorities are acting tough on attendance so that students don’t stay away from the campus and join such protests in future,” said Amlan Hazra, a masters’ student of linguistics at JU.

The protesting students at Presidency said they would withdraw their agitation only if the VC assured them in writing that supplementary exams would be held for the final year students (undergraduate as well as post-graduate) among the 180.

Lohia, however, refused. “I have given them verbal assurance on holding supplementary exams according to UGC rules. I can’t give any written assurance.”