Ranchi: Hundreds of under-graduate students from various nursing colleges on Monday protested outside the administrative building of Ranchi University (RU) against the delays in their semester examinations.The varsity’s offices were forced to be closed, and its employees remained on campus as the agitators blocked the main gates till late evening.Led by the National Students Union of India (NSUI) Ranchi city unit, the nursing students marched inside the RU campus asking the employees to come out before closing their offices. During the protest they also shouted slogans in support of their demands.A student at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences’ nursing college, who was unwilling to be named, said, “I am a student of 2022-26 batch. So far, I should have completed seven semesters, but the RU has conducted examinations of only two. If such a situation prevails, I would cross the maximum age limits of govt jobs by the time I graduate. The age limit for nursing officer recruitment common eligibility test exam held at all India level is 30 years. The examination of only one semester has been held of 2023-27 session.”His colleague said that even the examinations of two semesters were conducted earlier following protests. He said that a memorandum was submitted at RU regarding our demands two months ago, but no action was taken.NSUI city wing president Satish Kesri, “We called the RU vice chancellor several times, but he did not pick the call. Subsequently, we gave an ultimatum that the VC should talk to us within an hour. As our demand was not met, we closed the university offices.” In view of the protests, the RU issued that date sheet of semester third examination of the 2022-26 batch and second semester of 2023-27 batch. The students were, however, carrying out the agitation demanding examination schedule of all pending semesters.RU spokesperson Smriti Singh said, “We are trying our best to conduct the examinations as soon as possible. Our proctor Mukund Chandra was with the agitators for a long time to convince them on the issue.”
