NIT-Silchar director meets students after a week of protest over campus suicide, assures action

The director of NIT-Silchar Dilip Kumar Baidya on Friday met the students who are on an indefinite hunger strike over the alleged suicide of the third-year boy in the college's hostel and promised them that their demands would be fulfilled within two days.

The meeting comes a day after 10 students, who were on hunger strike, had to be hospitalised as their health conditions deteriorated, and one of them turned critical.

Baidya apologised to the students who have been protesting after the boy from Arunachal Pradesh was found dead last Friday for not meeting them earlier.

Meeting the students for more than an hour at the New Gallery of the institute, he urged them to withdraw from the hunger strike. The students, however, remained adamant, maintaining that the protest would continue till they get written assurances.

Among their demands is the resignation of dean of academics BK Roy, whom they blame for the suicide, and that no disciplinary action should be taken against the students for the protest.

Baidya told them that Roy has been temporarily removed from the post, and will be removed permanently within the next two days.

'We apologise for not reaching out on time. We are ready to fulfill all the demands of the students in the next two days,' he said.

The students have been alleging that Roy had insulted the victim who got six backlogs in his first-semester examination, which was held in 2021.

Due to the lockdown, he was at home in Arunachal Pradesh and failed to attend the online classes due to lack of internet connectivity, resulting in the backlog, they claimed.

He had appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he could clear the backlogs but Roy allegedly insulted him. Following this incident, he locked himself in his room and later his body was found hanging, they said.

Before the meeting, in a notice, Registrar KL Baishnab appealed to the students to call off the agitation and resume classes, and also warned that, otherwise, the authority will be constrained to close the college for an indefinite period or take stern actions.

The agitating students have been demanding a proper investigation into the incident, besides financial, legal and emotional support for the victim's family.

They also demand that a high-level committee be formed for academic reforms at NIT-Silchar.

After the victim's body was found, the students allegedly vandalised Roy's residence. To control the situation, police lathi-charged them, in which 40 students were injured, many of whom were critical.