The global pandemic has caused a devastating stir in the lives of people. National and regional colleges have faced massive problems as well. The sudden nationwide lockdown caused an unexpected termination of examinations, term studies, and other college activities.

Numerous students were asked to leave for their homes and commence with the virtual classes for the remaining term. However, post the nationwide lockdown announcement and termination of transportation means, students of several universities were left with no other choice than to stay back.

The unstructured lockdown guidance rules caused major difficulties for students stuck in different corners of the country.

A similar situation arose from the campus of IIM Calcutta. With massive uproar from the students was witnessed amidst the lockdown period.

The students accused the authorities of pushing ‘unfair’ charges against four executive MBA students who stayed back on the campus after the successful completion of their course. This was due to the lockdown Rs. 500 daily rules.

The students considered it to be an unfair decision and wrote several letters to the authority on behalf of the four accused students. The students claimed that the center was relying on unfair means to levy backdated charges on the four accused MBA students.

According to sources, the students were informed on 5th may that there could be a possible fixed charge if the students wish to stay post-April 5.

The students accused that the college authorities were, unfortunately, resorting to predatory practices amidst crucial times. Amidst the disturbance in term studies, the students claim that they were forced to follow unfair guidelines.

The convocation date decided by the college authorities was the 5th of April. However, an executive MBA candidate pays around a heavy sum of Rs. 22 lakhs for a single long-term course. The students claimed that the accused MBA students were not allowed to leave the campus premises without the effective payment done in the name of the institution.

After further inquiry with the IIM Calcutta director Anju Seth about the accusations on the targeted students, the director issued a clarification regarding the same. The director claimed that no such activity was carried out by the authorities, and the students were not forced to make the payments during uncertain times.

The director also claimed that she made sure that the students do not face any issue regarding the payments since she had personally assured them that their problems would be solved with effective measures. Moreover, she also claimed that no fee payment would be charged if the students stay inside the campus involuntarily.

Major accusations were called untrue. “It is completely untrue that students have been stopped from leaving the college campus due to any issue overpayment,” said Seth.

One of the professors claimed that the act was unethical, and students should not be charged during uncertain times. He also claimed that the administration has been unfair to a student who paid a hefty sum off 22 lakhs for his studies.

The current batch consists of around 68 students. Out of these 68, 5 students remained back inside the college campus. Out of the 5 students, one of them attained special permission before the lockdown announcement for an extended stay since she was expecting a child. Therefore, only 4 students were accused.

As per the regular scenario and normal circumstances, the entire batch of students would have vacated the college campus after the successful collection of their degrees on the convocation day, which was planned on the 5th of April.

However, the convocation ceremony was unexpectedly stalled due to the pandemic aftermaths and the nationwide lockdown, restricting the modes of transportation and communication.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic situation and health crisis revolving around the country, the four accused students who were stranded in the campus had no voluntary personal intention to stay back. Moreover, the letters of students claim that they were left with no other choice and had to stay back beyond the 5th of April.

The incident revolves around miscommunication and unclear guidelines. The four accused MBA students faced miscommunication about the permissions regarding the extended staying back decision and permission.

Moreover, one of their classmates had explicitly asked for special permission and received a response as well before. This was claimed in the clarification letter from the director’s office.

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Source: The Telegraph India.