AMU library row: University to provide transportation to women UG students for main library

Aligarh, Dec 5: AMU will now provide transportation every Sunday to undergraduates from its Women's College to its main library, days after the university was embroiled in a controversy over not allowing girl students there citing lack of space and security.

AMU Vice Chancellor Retired Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah has issued the orders. It said all undergraduate students of the university will be provided transportation every Sunday from its Women's College to Maulana Azad Library to avail the library facility from December 7.

This facility will be initially for a period of three hours. The Aligarh Muslim University on November 11 found itself in the midst of a controversy over not allowing access to women undergraduates to the main library in the campus even as the institution said it was due to space constraint and denied having a "sexist approach".

The University also had issued a clarification that the allegation of any sort of ban was "baseless" since more than 2,700 postgraduate girls were already members of the university library and regularly availed these facilities.

However, following the controversy and directives of the Allahabad High Court, the University has now extended this facility to all girls, including undergraduates.

A spokesman of the University said that special security arrangements are being made for this purpose, including assigning the teachers to ensure that undergraduate girls are able to avail all the benefits available to other postgraduate students.

PTI