<p>Guwahati: What began amid the mourning over singer Zubeen Garg's sudden death in September, the protest against the Vice Chancellor in Assam's Tezpur University, is getting intense. </p><p>Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF), a united forum of students, teachers and staffs in the central university, on Sunday decided to go for "complete non-compliance and non-cooperation" till the Centre took concrete steps for removal of the VC Shambhu Nath Singh, who has remained absent for 79-days.</p><p>The forum took the decision despite assurance given by a team of the Union Education Ministry (MoE) that an inquiry would be initiated and Singh would be kept away from the administration. "The students view this as a preliminary step, but emphasise that the protest will continue until an official, formal notificication is issued and concrete action follows," TUUF said in a statement on Sunday.</p><p>The assurance, according to students, was given in writing by a team led by Saumya Gupta, the joint secretary in the department of higher education, MoE, which visited the campus on Saturday following strong protest in the campus. The team, according to students, was held up inside the campus for more than three hours till the written assurance was given. </p><p>The students and the staffs have been demanding Singh's removal alleging mismanagement and corruption. </p>.Tezpur University row: Protesters vow to keep institution shut until formal steps taken to remove Vice Chancellor.<p><strong>Shutodwn on</strong></p><p>On November 29, the situation worsened when the students "shut down" the University for "indefinite period" demanding removal of the VC and an inquiry against him. </p><p>Singh has remained absent since September when protests intensified following his controversial statement over a programme to condole the death of iconic singer Zubeen Garg. Tezpur University was set up in 1994 as per the promises made in the historic Assam Accord signed to end the six-year-long anti-foreigners movement or the Assam Agitation (1979-1985). </p><p>On December 4, Singh convened a meeting of the university's Governing Body, which the VC chaired online from New Delhi. The students said in the meeting, Singh named Joya Chakraborty, a professor of Mass Communication Department as a pro-Vice Chancellor. </p><p>But Chakraborty, according to a student, refused to accept the decision. Amid the protests, Dhruva Kumar Bhattacharyya, a senior professor of the computer science and engineering department, "assumed the charge" as acting VC as per provisions in the University Act.</p><p>On Sunday, the University issued a statememt saying that Dhruba Kumar Bhattacharyya, a senior professor, took charge as acting VC. The university wants the students to restore normalcy as the Centre assured a time-bound inquiry.</p>
<p>Guwahati: What began amid the mourning over singer Zubeen Garg's sudden death in September, the protest against the Vice Chancellor in Assam's Tezpur University, is getting intense. </p><p>Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF), a united forum of students, teachers and staffs in the central university, on Sunday decided to go for "complete non-compliance and non-cooperation" till the Centre took concrete steps for removal of the VC Shambhu Nath Singh, who has remained absent for 79-days.</p><p>The forum took the decision despite assurance given by a team of the Union Education Ministry (MoE) that an inquiry would be initiated and Singh would be kept away from the administration. "The students view this as a preliminary step, but emphasise that the protest will continue until an official, formal notificication is issued and concrete action follows," TUUF said in a statement on Sunday.</p><p>The assurance, according to students, was given in writing by a team led by Saumya Gupta, the joint secretary in the department of higher education, MoE, which visited the campus on Saturday following strong protest in the campus. The team, according to students, was held up inside the campus for more than three hours till the written assurance was given. </p><p>The students and the staffs have been demanding Singh's removal alleging mismanagement and corruption. </p>.Tezpur University row: Protesters vow to keep institution shut until formal steps taken to remove Vice Chancellor.<p><strong>Shutodwn on</strong></p><p>On November 29, the situation worsened when the students "shut down" the University for "indefinite period" demanding removal of the VC and an inquiry against him. </p><p>Singh has remained absent since September when protests intensified following his controversial statement over a programme to condole the death of iconic singer Zubeen Garg. Tezpur University was set up in 1994 as per the promises made in the historic Assam Accord signed to end the six-year-long anti-foreigners movement or the Assam Agitation (1979-1985). </p><p>On December 4, Singh convened a meeting of the university's Governing Body, which the VC chaired online from New Delhi. The students said in the meeting, Singh named Joya Chakraborty, a professor of Mass Communication Department as a pro-Vice Chancellor. </p><p>But Chakraborty, according to a student, refused to accept the decision. Amid the protests, Dhruva Kumar Bhattacharyya, a senior professor of the computer science and engineering department, "assumed the charge" as acting VC as per provisions in the University Act.</p><p>On Sunday, the University issued a statememt saying that Dhruba Kumar Bhattacharyya, a senior professor, took charge as acting VC. The university wants the students to restore normalcy as the Centre assured a time-bound inquiry.</p>