DHAKA, March 15, 2019 (BSS) – Susmita Dey, newly elected vice-president of
Dhaka University (DU) Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall Union, expressed her
intention to work for the welfare of the common students who voted her to VP
of the dormitory.
“I want to implement my pledges I made before the polls. At first I will
work for fixing the entry and exit time till 10pm for the hall students. Now
students can enter the dorm till 10pm but could not come out after 9pm even
though they have necessary works,” she told BSS in an interview.
Susmita, a master student of international relations department, said now
students of any female hall of the university could not enter other female
dormitories.
“I want to work for female students so that they can enter any female hall
by submitting or showing their university identity cards,” she said.
Hailed from Keshabpur upazila of Jashore district, Susmita, now a vice-
president of Kuwait Maitree Hall unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, contested
the hall union polls as an independent candidate as she was not nominated
from her students’ organisation.
She said now female students are deprived of many rights than their male
counterparts in the university.
“If our mother comes to see us from our village home, they are not allowed
to our rooms where we live. I want to work on that issue as mothers of female
students could go to their room,” she said.
Susmita, a 2012-13 session student of the university, joined politics
after she became a residential student of her dormitory, said she wants to
ensure that “a student of the hall can stay at the dormitory till publishing
of her masters’ examination results and she can get a single bed in a room when she
will be in fourth year.”
Besides, she would work to increase the number of buses trips for smooth
carrying of female students of the two halls – – Kuwait Maitree Hall and
Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall– to their academic buildings.
“We will work to fix rickshaws fares on the campus. Ensuring nutritious
and hygienic food items in hall canteen and dining, fresh drinking water,
clean washrooms and toilets, increasing capacity of reading room will be our
priorities of work,” she said.
Asked about the recovery of ballot papers from their dormitory during the
DUCSU polls that drew the media attention, Susmita said actually they
recovered the ballots.
“But we are not sure who were behind the incident. It could also be a
conspiracy,” she said, adding that a probe-body was formed to look into the
incident.
“When the investigation team will submit its report, true will come out,”
she said.
Following the incident, Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Samad and
Proctor Professor Golam Rabbani rushed to the spot and then hall provost of
the female dormitory was relieved as a prove committee was formed to
investigate the incident.
After three hours, voting resumed and ended peacefully. In the polls
results, independent candidates Susmita Dey and Sagufta Bushra Mishma were
elected vice-president (VP) and general secretary (GS) of the hall union for
one year term.