Coronavirus scare: Visva-Bharati cancels classes till Mar 31, asks students to vacate hostels

The Visva-Bharati university on Tuesday directed all students, except foreign nationals, to immediately vacate their hostel rooms in wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Kolkata based varsity also announced that all classes will be suspended till March 31.

"As per the decision of the competent authorities and in conjunction with the directive of the various bodies of Government of India, all hostels under Visva Bharati (including Patha Bhavan hostels) will remain closed until further orders due to the immediate threat of coronavirus (COVID-19)," said a notification issued by proctor Sankar Majumder.

In another notice, signed by the acting registrar, the varsity said all classes will remain suspended till March 31 and no programme of the varsity will be held and the entire 'ashrama complex' will be completely sealed till further orders. The authorities also decided that all theory papers of the school certificate examinations, which were scheduled to be held up to March 30, stand cancelled.

"A review of the situation shall be made by the university authority after March 31, 2020," the notification said.

The decisions were taken at a meeting held chaired by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty in presence of all heads of departments, principals of bhavanas, the proctor and other senior officials of the varsity in compliance with communication by the University Grants Commission, a source said.