VSSUT of Odisha has penalised 100 students with varying degrees of punishment on the approval of the vice-chancellor
| Photo Credit: Official website of VSSUT

Odisha’s oldest government engineering college, now a university, has penalised 100 students with varying degrees of punishment on the approval of the vice-chancellor. Educationists say such mass disciplinary action is a rare event in the history of higher education.

Students at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, have been fined between ₹1,000 and ₹5,000 for acts of indiscipline, with the harshest penalty being reduction of one grade in theory subjects for the current semester. In some cases, it has been recommended that pass grades be made into fail grades.

The majority of those identified for disruptive behaviour are third-year students, although a few first-year students have also faced action. Some students from these groups have been let off with milder punishments, including issuance of warning memos. They have also been directed to undertake social work under the supervision of the university authorities.

Barred from holding student office

Moreover, the penalized students have been barred from contesting or being nominated for any student office or leadership position in sports teams. They are also prohibited from receiving medals, certificates, or prizes related to academics and extracurricular activities.

Parents of many of these students have been asked to submit an affidavit in person, pledging that their wards will not engage in any further acts of indiscipline for the remainder of their time in the university, failing which expulsion or other disciplinary action may follow.

VSSUT, one of the prestigious universities in eastern India, has a proud history of its students securing placements in leading organizations and institutions across the country.