LNIPE protest enters day 14 as students demand registrar’s resignation, Rs 50 lakh compensation

Students of the Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE) in Gwalior allegedly held Vice Chancellor Professor Kalpana Sharma and other staff members inside the institute’s administrative building for nearly two hours while protesting the death of a female student at the institute’s Guwahati campus, officials said on Wednesday.

Four students also began an indefinite hunger strike on Wednesday as the protest entered its 14th day. The students are demanding the resignation of the registrar and Rs 50 lakh compensation for the family of 22-year-old Shruti Upadhyay, a third-year BPEd student who died on September 9 after falling ill.

The protesters have raised questions over medical facilities at the Guwahati campus and have been staging a sit-in outside LNIPE’s main gate in Gwalior.

On Tuesday evening, students moved to the administrative building after alleging that the institute had not accepted their demands and locked the premises from outside, an official said. Police later reached the spot and rescued the vice chancellor and other staff members.

Student protester Amit Chaudhary said the students had been demonstrating for 14 days without a resolution and alleged that the institute was putting pressure on them to withdraw the agitation. He said the administration has assured them that a Delhi-based team will visit Gwalior on September 24 to hear their concerns.

Chaudhary said the students would wait until September 24 but warned that the agitation could be intensified if their demands remained unresolved.

Vice Chancellor Sharma said LNIPE does not oppose peaceful protests but described the locking of the administrative building as inappropriate. She said talks with the students were continuing, with some of their six demands already accepted and a committee formed to examine the remaining issues.

Sharma also said the institute was working to improve medical facilities and had been asking students to return to classes. According to her, the Guwahati administration provided Rs 4 lakh to Upadhyay’s family on behalf of the Assam government, while Rs 5 lakh was provided as compensation.