14 Presidency students fall ill

Kolkata: As many as 14 students of Presidency University, who are agitating for the handover of Hindu Hostel at the administrative building, are suffering from high fever with six of them being diagnosed with malaria and one with typhoid.

Apart from — Ariyan Agrahari, a second year graduate student, all others have returned home for treatment.

Six of the students needed to be hospitalised last Friday when they had a temperature of more than 103°. Sumit Mondal, pursuing MA in Bengali Honours, informed that he had been staying at the administrative building since August 3 when the agitation for the handover of Hindu hostel started on the university campus. "I have been affected with vector-borne disease from the campus itself. I am very weak and undergoing treatment at my residence," he said.

The students alleged indifferent attitude on the part of the university even after five to six students were diagnosed with high fever last week. "It was only on Friday when some students were hospitalised that the development officer of the varsity paid a visit to the hospital. No higher officials came and spoke to us. We are in the dark whether there has been any special drive after reports of malaria on the campus," an agitating student said.

Some 10 boarders of a nearby hostel are also ill and are suffering from stomach problems. A senior official of the varsity claimed that they take up cleanliness drives including anti-larvae drives frequently on the campus. When contacted Arun Maity, Dean of students said: "I am not present on the campus. I will not be able to tell anything at this point of time." Several calls on the cell phone of Registrar Debojyoti Konar went unanswered.