Odisha/Kendujhar/SwamPatna:9/9,Students of Swampatna Regional College in Patna block of Keonjhar district staged a protest on Wednesday demanding the filling of nine vacant lecturer posts in the +3 section. The students locked the main gate of the college and staged a sit-in from 6 am.According to the protesting students, one post is vacant in Botany, two in History, two in English, one in Odia, one in Political Science, one in Economics and one in Philosophy. The English department currently has only one lecturer, they said.The students alleged that the shortage of lecturers has severely affected academic activities at the college. They also claimed that the authorities had previously been informed about the issue, but no solution had been found.College Principal Jagannath Mahanta said that filling all the vacant posts through guest lecturers was difficult due to insufficient funds available with the college.After receiving information about the protest, Keonjhar Assistant Collectors Prakash Kumar Sethi and Sekhar Chandra Jena, Patna BDO Manas Kumar Dandapat and Patna Additional Tahasildar Ravi Shankar Hembram reached the college and held discussions with the protesting students.The officials informed the students that an advertisement for the appointment of guest lecturers had already been issued. They assured that guest lecturers would be appointed by September 25, following which the students withdrew their agitation. Patna Police were also deployed at the spot to prevent any untoward incident.
Financial Irregularity Allegations Under Scrutiny
Meanwhile, allegations of large-scale corruption and financial irregularities at the college had reportedly been submitted to the Keonjhar Sub-Collector. It was alleged that the college had become financially depleted due to the alleged irregularities.In connection with the allegations, Assistant Collector Rahim Bhui, Deputy Collector Dinesh Purty and the two Assistant Collectors mentioned above visited the college office and held discussions with Principal Jagannath Mahanta. They also sought documents related to the college's financial transactions.
However, according to reports, the employee responsible for maintaining the records could not provide the requested documents to the officials.
