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Team MM was powerful enough to influence college routine change | Kolkata News - Times of India

Kolkata: Monojit Mishra, accused of raping a first-year student at a law college last Wednesday, was so powerful that he allegedly influenced the rescheduling of class hours from 7.30 am to 9 am. Questions are now being raised how could a morning college start classes at 9 am.The college governing body on Tuesday decided to return to the original schedule of 7 am to 2 pm, which was in place until June last year. Then suddenly, the first class was scheduled to start at 7.30 am and in Aug last year, the college again changed the schedule, starting classes from 9 am. "We suddenly received a new routine, in which the first lecture started at 9 am. Later, we heard that Mango Da (as Monojit was popularly known as on the campus) had convinced the vice-principal to make the change as it was apparently too early for some of his close associates," a second-year student said.College vice-principal Nayna Chatterji declined to comment on why the timings were changed.Continuing with the "comfort" culture at the college, a notice was issued on May 30, in which classes were set in a semester-wise roster from June 3 to June 30. Going by the routine, each semester was scheduled with only a couple of lectures every week. Even then, the actual number of classes for each semester came down to only one a week. On June 3, the college notified a semester-wise routine with a footnote, stating, "College will resume as per normal schedule if University of Calcutta declares examination schedule. Roster basis schedule will be dissolved then." Chatterji told TOI: "It was done as exams are slated from July 16, and students had to fill and submit exam forms." Third-year students, who attended a class on June 20, claimed it as their only class held in a week. Similar was the situation with third- and fourth-year students, too. This once-or-twice-a-week schedule continued for a month, with classes being slated for only two hours a week. Students said this "strange roster" was introduced last month but before that, they attended four classes a day from 9 am till 1 pm. "We don't know why such a roster was prepared. We have infrastructure and teachers, but no system, and the college authority was reluctant to implement one," a student said.Some students allegedly did not attend a single class in a year but were yet allowed to appear for exams without any punitive action. This prompted others to skip classes, too. A first-year student said, "I attended all the classes for a month last year, but I became irregular when I saw others staying away and not being hauled up. Regulars to union room got away with it. Others were at times questioned by teachers but it was completely unofficial and the college never took punitive action against anyone for irregular attendance."Law students have to attend seminars and moot courts as part of their course curriculum but the college apparently hardly took such initiatives unless requests came from students. A fourth-year student expressed her concern over returning to the campus. "This incident will remind us every time we enter the campus later on. Every place, every corner will remind us of the brutality my junior faced at the hands of a staff member, who was also an alumnus. This would not have happened had the college authorities not overlooked repeated complaints."

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