The students of National Institute of Technology Srinagar Garhwal called off their agitation following persuasion by the under secretary HRD K Rajan and the director NIT Kureshtra, Satish Kumar. It is learnt that the classes which remained disrupted for days due to the students’ stir would resume from Wednesday.
The students had been staging agitation while boycotting classes with the twin demands of the administration giving a written assurance of providing them with better facilities and of housing a NIT campus in a plain area. Though the students had remained adamant on continuing with the agitation the presence of Rajan and Kumar in Srinagar for close to three days seemed to have helped the ice thaw. Notably, the sit-in had started in the administrative block of NIT on August 20.
Earlier, District Magistrate Pauri, Sushil Kumar and senior Superintendent of police, Jagat Ram Joshi had talked with the agitating students and assured them that their demand of better facilities would be addressed. They had, however, asked them to refrain from fixing the place where the permanent campus of the institute would be established. On the other hand, MP from Garhwal Maj Gen (Rtd) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri had written a letter to the Union HRD minister to conduct a high-level inquiry into the delay of the construction of a permanent NIT campus now based in Srinagar Garhwal.
Rajan said that the construction of the permanent NIT campus would start once the Government provides the land to house it. He further said that the land provided for NIT by the villagers of Sumari in Srinagar Tehsil has been found unsuitable for the purpose. He, however, declined to commit himself on when the construction of the permanent NIT campus would start.
DM said that hostel arrangements for the students are being made in some other places as also within the present campus of the institute. “The NIT Srinagar administration has been told that the district administration would soon provide them with the land for housing the permanent campus.
Meanwhile, the NIT administration should provide the students with temporary hostel facilities,” added Sushi Kumar.
Mention worthy, the first director of the NIT Srinagar, ST Thorat was never in favour of NIT being housed in Srinagar Garhwal with Rishikesh being his favourite place.
With the controversy dogging the institute, the villagers of Sumari had pledged to provide free land for housing it in the village. Subsequently, the NIT administration had surveyed the land. However, intriguingly enough, the report of the survey is yet to be submitted to the state government. Observers say that Khanduri has done the right thing having asked the Union HRD ministry to go for a detailed inquiry into the inordinate delay in clearing decks for the construction of a permanent campus for the premier institute of the region.