Pune’s SPPU students protest for extension of Jayakar Library timings

One of the other issues that irked the students was that of urging female students to leave the library premises after 6 in the evening

Demanding to extend the library timings, students of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) staged a protest in front of Jayakar Library on Saturday.

Savitribai Phule Pune University students protest in front of Jayakar Library on Saturday. (HT photo)

Backed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the protest was to urge the authorities to go back to the prior timings for the reading room - from 6 am to 12 pm. “It becomes very important for us, especially during exams, to have even one extra hour of reading. The timings for the hall was originally 6 in the morning till the midnight, but after recent developments, it has been pushed further to 7 am opening, which we are protesting against,” said Jagdish More, one of the protesting students.

According to the ABVP secretary, Raghavendra Risaldar, the protest was to address a set of issues that had been straining students for some time. One of those issues was that of urging female students to leave the library premises after 6 in the evening. “Although, there is no official record which denies them from staying late after 6 pm in the library, many students have come up complaining instances where the authorities have urged them to leave citing safety concerns,” said Risaldar.

When head librarian and director Aparna Rajendra was reached out for a comment, she denied occurrence of any such incident in the library. “Its not at all true that girl students are asked to leave after 6 pm. They can, just as the male students, stay till midnight for studying if required,” she said.

Following this, the SPPU authorities have decided to form a committee to reconsider their demands and take substantial action. “The committee including the registrar will be discussing on their demands and as per merit announce the decision soon,” Rajendra added.