Students enrolled at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU) as well as 12 constituent and 14 affiliated colleges associated with the university, face an uncertain future due to constant delays in sessions.

Three-year undergraduate courses are delayed by at least two to three years. While the management blames Covid-19 for the delays, students say it has been a regular feature. Even before Covid-19 pandemic sessions were delayed by two to three years.

Undergraduate students in the TMBU who were supposed to complete their graduation by March 2022, haven’t been able to complete their first year yet. Even students who were admitted to the college in 2018, still haven’t completed their graduation. The problem continues for the students of the 2019-2022 batch, who despite spending more than 20 months after admission, haven’t completed their first year.

Kirti Sharma, who took admission in 2019 in one of the affiliated colleges under TMBU, was planning to pursue M.A next year but is still stuck in the first year. “I should have graduated in 2022 but am still in the second year with no date assigned for the second-year exam. Even college is confused over handing us our degree by 2024,” said Kirti.

The university hasn’t conducted second-year exams for the students who were supposed to be in their final year this academic session.

University officials of the TMBU hold Covid -19 responsible for the delay in the session. Although students allege that such delays have occurred before the pandemic as well.

Another student, Ankush Kumar, says that he had to drop his plan of giving the banking entrance exam due to a delay in graduation. He pointed out the low latency and lack of financial and physical efforts by the college as the reason for the delay.

The delay has led several other students to drop their plans of studying further. Students pointed out that TMBU has the sole power to conduct exams, and there have been no efforts by the people assigned to conduct exams.

Despite having more than 1,36,200 students enrolled under the university, management haven’t come up with a dependable academic calendar.

University officials of the TMBU hold Covid -19 responsible for the delay in the session. Although students allege that such delays have occurred before the pandemic as well.

Referring to the issue, Registrar of TMBU, Niranjan Prasad Yadav, said that it is the misfortune of the university to not have a regular Vice-Chancellor (VC). “To manage such a vast university, a regular VC is a must, and the absence of a permanent VC leaves the university in a pendulum state,” Yadav said.

There has been an absence of a permanent VC in TMBU since 2017. The current VC Prof. Hanuman Prasad Pandey also holds charge of B.R.A. Bihar University, Muzaffarpur.

There has been an absence of a permanent VC in TMBU since 2017. The current VC Prof. Hanuman Prasad Pandey also holds charge of B.R.A. Bihar University, Muzaffarpur.

“It is difficult to switch to online mode of education, due to the lack of resources and most of our students living in remote areas,” added Yadav.

Even, syndicate meetings, which are supposed to discuss the issues faced by the university, are not happening regularly.

Retired Principal of Marwari College, Gurudev Poddar, said, “Despite being a democratic body, the university acts in a unitary way. The syndicate meetings not happening due to sudden change of VCs and officials giving importance only to paperwork has made the TMBU a loose system.”

The names of candidates for the post of permanent VC have been submitted to the governor in the first week of November.

As first-year classes have been suspended indefinitely and admission status haven’t been updated online due to the pandemic, students wanting to get admitted in the University are not being able to do so.

With no assurance from officials regarding the incessant delays, the students enrolled at the university fear that they are staring at a bleak future.