Patna: Hundreds of teachers, non-teaching staff and students of Patna University (PU) staged a demonstration at the university headquarters and marched towards Lok Bhawan on Thursday, protesting against proposed legislative amendments that they said would alter the university’s autonomous character.The rally saw active participation from women and retired teachers, many in their eighties, who carried banners and placards and raised slogans against what they termed “non-academic and counter-productive” changes to the higher education system.The protesters alleged that the state government’s move would weaken the democratic framework of higher education by reducing universities to extensions of the state secretariat. The demonstration was jointly organised by the PU Teachers’ Association (PUTA), PU Employees’ Association and PU College Employees’ Union.Despite heavy police deployment across the campus and around the PU office, the protesters set out on their march along Ashok Raj Path as scheduled. However, they were stopped near Patna College gate and barred from proceeding to Lok Bhawan. As a result, they could not submit their memorandum to governor-cum-chancellor Syed Ata Hasnain.Teachers and non-teaching staff of the 108-year-old university strongly opposed the proposed merger of the Patna University Act, 1976, and the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976, into a single regulatory framework. They demanded that PU’s distinct and autonomous status be retained and the proposed legislation withdrawn. The protesters said the changes would dilute the chancellor’s role and compromise academic standards.They also expressed concern that the restructuring could lead to transfers of university teachers to rural colleges, causing further disruption to academic activities. Teachers and employees are on mass casual leave till Friday in support of their demands, affecting academic and administrative work and leading to the postponement of examinations.PUTA president Sheo Sagar Prasad criticised the authorities for preventing the march, saying teachers had been denied their democratic right to submit a memorandum to the governor. PU Employees’ Association president Subodh Kumar said the agitation would continue until the proposed changes were withdrawn.Former PUTA general secretary Himanshu Bhushan Prasad Sinha said the move threatened PU’s distinct identity, while Suheli Mehta, principal of Vanijya Mahavidyalaya, opposed any proposal to delink affiliated colleges from the university’s academic control.At a joint meeting later in the day, teachers and employees decided to launch a signature campaign demanding immediate withdrawal of the proposed changes.