West Bengal finally asks its colleges to follow HC order by shutting down students’ union rooms

Nearly two weeks after the Calcutta High Court’s order, following a hearing on the South Calcutta Law College rape case, asked the West Bengal government to ask all universities and colleges to lock up their students’ union rooms, the Department of Higher Education finally issued an order asking institutions to follow what the Court said.

Quoting the July 3 High Court order that the “students’ union room in colleges and universities shall be put under lock and key and no student shall be permitted to enter or use the said students’ union or students’ room except with the written permission of the registrar or any person competent to issue such permission”, the State Government asked institutions to act according to it.

“The purpose for the visit by the student to such a room identified for the students’ union should be disclosed in the letter. However, this shall not include the students’ recreational or common room. This order shall be restricted to the room/rooms identified and used as students’ union room,” the department said in its circular issued late on Wednesday (July 16, 2025).

“Our college has tightened things already. The union room is locked. Extra female security personnel are now engaged to monitor different zones of the college campus. Entire campus is under CCTV surveillance. I meet girl students twice a week to know if they are comfortable within the campus. Programmes on self-defence for women are being organised regularly,” Jaydeep Sarangi, principal of Kolkata’s New Alipore College, told The Hindu in his reaction to the order. ‎

An associate professor at another West Bengal college, requesting anonymity, said, “While some colleges in the State immediately closed down the union rooms after the High Court issued the directive, most of the colleges paid no heed to what the Court said. The logic behind such negligence was that there was no clear order from the Directorate of Higher Education about its compliance.”

The teacher added: “This order from the directorate should come as a relief for students and faculty members in various colleges across the State who are constantly reeling under undue interference in academic and administrative matters by former students and outsiders who control the union room. This timely check may set things right.”

It is a common complaint among teachers and students in West Bengal colleges that young men no longer studying in a college often roam about on the campus, even beyond working hours, trying to intimidate current students.

“I have been a regular witness to the unsettling behaviour of former students who are constantly ‘monitoring’ faculty performance, creating false narratives, often intimidating, and publicly humiliating female teachers and female students. A culture of threat prevails in institutions, something that is damaging the academic environment to a large extent,” complained an assistant professor with a government college.