Bajali College
A view of Bajali College at Pathsala in Barpeta district. Image - Northeast Now

The election process for Lok Sabha polls was over long back and the new government has also taken charge, but the election authority is yet to vacate Bajali College, which was used as strong room.

A large portion of the college at Pathsala in Barpeta district was used to conduct the Lok Sabha election 2019 and EVMs were stocked at the college premises after the polling and also after the counting of votes.

But till the filing of this report, the huge portion of the college has been tagged as ‘restricted area’.

The portion, which is still under the control of the election authority, includes the administrative block, classrooms of various departments and laboratories.

The portion which has been left for conducting classes is not sufficient as a large number students study in the college.

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“We have faced untold problems in running classes as a large portion of the college, which was used as strong room during the election process, is yet to be vacated,” said Bajali College principal Chandana Sarma.

“The small portion, which is left, is not sufficient for running classes of the college,” the principal added.

The principal appealed to the election authority to vacate the college as early as possible considering the problems being faced by the students.

The president of the college students’ union, Subhrajit Kalita, also expressed strong resentment at the present state of the college.

“The college was occupied by the election authority before the election and after that it was occupied by the security personnel. The students of mass communication and journalism were compelled to shift to a temporary accommodation,” said Kalita.

The students also appealed to the election authority to shift the EVMs from the college and vacate it for the greater interest of the students.

Dr. Binita Bora Dev Choudhury, associate professor of the Assamese department said, “Under the semester system, the students get less period in each semester and such situation creates untold problems to complete the course.”

Deployment of some of the teachers in other government works has also hampered the educational atmosphere of the college.

Dev Choudhury has urged the authority concerned to do needful so that the students are not affected furthermore.

Sasanka Talukdar is Northeast Now Correspondent in Pathsala. He can be reached at: [email protected]