A protest demanding student council elections at NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata ended after nearly eight hours when the college authorities agreed to convene an emergency College Council meeting on Wednesday to discuss the students’ demands.
The sit-in began at around 3pm and continued until shortly after midnight, according to college sources cited by Anandabazar. The students held the protest in the principal’s office, leaving the principal there for several hours. The agitation was withdrawn after the students were told that the College Council would meet on an urgent basis.
The students said they had first submitted their demand for elections to the principal 16 days earlier. At that time, the principal had convened a College Council meeting and told them that a decision would be communicated after 14 days. The protesters said that the promised period had passed without any further communication, prompting them to return to the principal’s office with the same demand.
The dispute concerns the absence of a student council election at the medical college for around one-and-a-half years. Medical student Swapnil Ghar, speaking in the context of the protest, said that no election had been held during this period. He also said that the institution had earlier been under an acting teacher who did not take a decision on the issue.
According to the students, the principal told them that the college had sought time from the state Health Department but had not received it. The protesters also claimed that notices for nominations had been issued twice earlier and subsequently withdrawn. These claims were part of the students’ account of the delay and were not independently established in the report.
The students further alleged that some organisations supported by the ruling party were attempting to create a parallel student council and that the process was being managed to benefit particular groups. The allegation was made by the protesters during the sit-in and was not accompanied by an official response from those organisations in the report.
The students also questioned why the principal had emailed the Health Department only during Tuesday’s protest, asking why the communication had not been sent earlier. The emergency College Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday is expected to consider the students’ demand and the college’s position on holding the elections. The meeting will determine the next formal step on the issue.
