Approval for New Lift at Gono University Stuck at Trustee Board, Says Student Union VP

The approval for installing a new lift at Gono University is stuck because of the trustee board, the vice-president (VP) of the university's central students' union, Yasin Al Mridul Dewan, has alleged. He said they had tried for a year to solve the lift problem without success, but would keep trying for another year.

The VP made the remarks in a video published from the Facebook account of Md Maruf, literary and cultural secretary of the Gono University central students' union. In the video, he also admitted some failures of the students' union, among which the lift problem is a major one.

Yasin Al Mridul Dewan said even he struggles to climb from the ground floor to the fifth floor. The lift issue was also in the students' union election manifesto. That is why they face the most questions from students over this matter.

The VP said he discussed the issue with the university's vice-chancellor right after the students' union election. The vice-chancellor also serves as president of the students' union. He said there is space for another lift at the university and that he wants to install it there.

The VP said, “Installing a lift can cost at most 20 to 30–35 lakh taka. For a university, that is not a very large amount of money. But the problem is being created by the university's trustee board.” According to him, the trustee board itself is not approving the lift installation.

Noting that the trustee board cites the policy of Zafrullah Sir, he added, “When Zafrullah Sir was here, students were not allowed to use the lift. His instruction was that only elderly teachers would use the lift, not students. But the current generation of students is not used to climbing stairs.”

He further said they can try and press the matter, but approving and implementing the lift installation depends on the university authorities and the trustee board. As Gono University is run by a trustee board, it is difficult to explain the issue to many people. That is why they face the most questions over the lift.

Many students climb up to five floors by stairs every day. For students who are unwell or have physical difficulties, the lack of a lift is a particular hardship. With an election manifesto promise unfulfilled, pressure on the students' union is also growing.

It now remains to be seen whether, after this public allegation by the students' union, the trustee board takes any decision on approving the lift installation. The VP has made clear that even if approval does not come, they will keep trying for the next year.