Jagannath University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, held a press conference demanding the administration to take immediate and effective steps to improve the quality of cafeteria, Jagannath University Central Students’ Union (JnUCSU) election, and commencement of food court.
They raised these three demands at a press conference in front of the Shanto Chattar of the university on Sunday afternoon.
Their three demands are: The roadmap for the JnUCSU election should be announced quickly by setting a deadline; the environment and services of the university cafeteria should be improved to ensure student-friendly infrastructure; the preannounced 'Food Court' to ensure quality food at low prices for students should be launched quickly and administrative initiatives should be taken for its implementation.
The press conference was moderated by Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, Jagannath University unit vice-president Moniruzzaman Monir, and the press release was presented by office secretary Kazi Ahad.
They said at the press conference that student union elections are an essential part of ensuring democratic practices, students' rights and participation in higher education institutions in Bangladesh. One of the commitments of the historic July Revolution of 2024 was to organize independent, participatory and regular student union elections in every public university.
Accordingly, activities have already started in many universities or roadmaps have been formulated. But unfortunately, the administration's activities in this regard at Jagannath University seem to be very slow and lack goodwill. Not having a democratic platform to speak and represent the university's nearly 16,000 students is not only undemocratic, but it also means taking away the students' right to express their opinions and participate in the policy-making process. In this situation, Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad,Jagannath University unit strongly demands from the administration to publish a roadmap based on a specific time frame for JnUCSU elections.
They also said that the university's infrastructure is also very poor and incomplete to meet the needs of a large number of students. There is only one cafeteria in the university, which does not have adequate water filters, necessary seating space for students, and there are serious complaints about the quality of food. Although the administration announced the introduction of a food card in response to the demands of students a long time ago, it has not been implemented till today.
Rather, this initiative is now limited to paper and pen, and there is no visible step from the administration to implement it.
