At a time when most universities are blamed for delaying of sessions due to untimely examinations and results, a decision by the Jai Narayan Vyas University to postpone examinations of 5th semester of Engineering III Year to accommodate a youth festival has annoyed the students.

Organised by the NSUI, the youth festival is slated from February 6 to 8 in a "brazen disregard" to the students' academic interest and a wholesome academic atmosphere.

"We had prepared according to the original time table but since examinations have been postponed now, we will have to bear the examination stress for an extended period and that too for the sake of a youth festival", an affected student rued.

Another student said other colleges were already ahead of them in terms of the session and with 10-day delay, which may not seem to be a big difference now, may lead to delay in announcement of results and create disturbance in the plans for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering ( GATE).

Dean (Engineering Faculty), DGM Purohit said the examinations were to start from February 2 but postponed following the directions of the vice-chancellor, who was approached by student union leaders to accommodate the youth festival. "The examinations have now been rescheduled to February 11," Purohit said.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot is scheduled to inaugurate the festival, which will also be participated by Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat.

A lecturer of the university said the student leaders have hardly ever expressed any concern for the academic atmosphere and are always engaged in the fight for supremacy and petty politics.

The BJP-backed ABVP has objected to the festival saying it could be termed as a student union's event. Vice-president of the union Hitesh Vyas (ABVP) said the event is exclusively NSUI's programme and "we have learnt about it only through newspapers. The president's post of the union is held by Pradeep Singh Rathore, who is from the NSUI.

Jai Narayan Vyas University, currently vying for the status of divisional level university, has fallen to grade 'B' from 'A' after the assessment by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.