Students allege harassment by library guards

Ravneet Singh
Tribune News Service
Patiala, January 13

Students today held a protest inside the library premises at Punjabi University alleging harassment by library staff.

The protest continued from morning till late evening despite the university was supposed to shut the premises at 5pm on the occasion of Lohri today.

The students alleged that the library guards harass them when they reach the library’s reading room during night hours. Moreover, they said they are harassed by hostel wardens for reaching the hostel premises late in the night as they have not received any notification for extension of library timings from the university.

“Our hostel wardens continue to threaten us with fine, if we reach the hostels late in the evening. The authorities despite having accepted the students’ demands of keeping the library open throughout the night have not notified the hostel staff about it,” said Sandeep Kaur, member of the Punjab Radical Students’ Union (PRSU).

Despite the university decided to provide a bus service from the library and the girls’ hostels the authorities failed to start the same.

Chief Librarian Dr Jagtar Singh, said the ‘minor issues and concerns’ of the students were solved. “The administration officials held a meeting with the representatives of the students and reached a consensus. The issues have been solved.”