Presidency University announced on Monday there will be “no code of conduct” for students.
Dean of students Arun Kumar Maity in a communication to students on June 27 wrote there will be “no code of conduct until the next general body meeting”, which was held on Monday.
After Monday’s meeting among students, a section of them went to the dean’s office, after which a fresh notice saying “No code of conduct” was issued.
Calls and text messages to the dean went unanswered.
A Presidency official said: “We dropped the idea following an overwhelming opposition from students on some of the provisions of the code.”
In the third week of May, Presidency circulated a draft code of conduct among the two student unions on the campus, seeking their opinion on the proposed norms.
The provisions of the code included measures that students said were “repressive”, like the need to seek “prior and proper approval from the concerned authorities of the institute” before staging a protest or organising a meeting.
The draft had also said: “Students are strictly prohibited from furnishing audio and video clippings of any activity within the campus to media without obtaining prior approval from concerned authorities.”
Of 446 students, 442 rejected the point in the draft that categorised organising meetings and processions without approval as “misconduct”.
An equal number of students said “no” to the point in the draft that said students were prohibited from “furnishing audio and video clippings of any activity within the campus to media without obtaining prior approval from concerned authorities”.
The students’ responses were handed to the dean on June 27.
Anandarupa Dhar, general secretary of the SFI unit on the campus, said: “An undemocratic code has been stalled following protests from students. The dean has also announced that he would hold discussions with students regarding CCTV surveillance.”
Barishan Ray, an undergraduate student who is a supporter of the IC union on the campus, said: “Last week, we said it was a partial victory for us because the enforcement of the code had been put on hold until the general body meeting on July 3. We demanded a complete abolition of the code and the dean was forced to announce that on Monday.”
