The Student Council of National Law University, Odisha (NLU Odisha) launched an indefinite protest against the administration on January 24..Speaking with Bar & Bench, students at the protest said that their major gripe has been the administration's decision to change evaluation and examination procedures to make them less transparent than ever. The students claim that these processes have been changed twice in the last two years, and recently again on January 1, without consensus from the Student Council..Additionally, hostel and proctor rules now include punitive measures in place that suspend students from classes and hostel as 'interim measures' during enquiries..Mounting discontent over lack of facilities.Other key issues as per a statement issued by the Student Council include non-functional Wi-Fi, broken air-conditioning and unhygienic washrooms which has been raised for several semesters, yet little to no action has been taken. With the University limiting availability to books in the library, there have been arbitrary restrictions even to accessing the academic block, it is claimed."We pay a hefty amount in fees and there has been negligible improvement in the facilities here. There is no justification for why these problems are neglected," said a student on the condition of anonymity. .Mental health insensitivity and governance concerns.The student body claims that University officials often make statements that trivialise their mental health concerns. Due to such response, students have lost their trust in the grievance redressal mechanism provided by the administration..Disciplinary policies and privacy breaches.The Student Council's press release also brings to light the administration's issuance of show cause notices to students who voice grievances. The students demand a supportive, transparent and conducive environment to learn in.The administration is also alleged to have leaked Aadhaar and sensitive personal data of 1,200 students. Additionally, as per the formal notice of protest, counsellors have communicated information about students who are receiving therapy to the administration, in breach of their privacy. .The students say they launched the protest after having exhausted multiple attempts to have a fruitful dialogue with the administration..The NLU Odisha administration did not respond to queries posed by Bar & Bench at the time of publication of the story.
