Students of the National Railway and Transport Institute (NRTI), Vadodara, which was recently rechristened Bharatiya Gatishakti Vishwavidyalaya as a Central University, staged a protest on Monday over the decision to convert the twin-sharing hostel rooms to triple occupancy.
Stating that the institute was ill-equipped and lacked facilities, the students chanted slogans against the management and threatened to approach “higher authorities, including the Ministry”.
In a memorandum submitted to the Registrar of the University, the students have demanded that the twin-sharing accommodation should be left unchanged.
“At the time of admission, it was mentioned that the rooms would be twin-sharing… Our guardians have paid the fees as per notifications on the NRTI website… As per the last meeting with the vice-chancellor, it was assured that the rooms would not be converted to triple-sharing accommodation,” the memorandum stated.
Claiming that the rooms are not suitable to accommodate three or more members, the memorandum added, “If implemented, it will create a huge mess and congestion in the rooms and directly or indirectly hamper our productivity… If such issues are not resolved with immediate effect, it might be required to approach the higher authorities, including the Ministry.”
Kuldeep Rathore, a third-year student of the university, said, “The issue is not just about the accommodation but about privacy and environment to study. The rooms are extremely compact and barely fit two occupants. Over a period, the institute has increased the number of students and is forcing for triple occupancy… we are all preparing for competitive exams, which is impossible in a crowded room. Moreover, we have paid fees for twin-sharing rooms.”
Another student Ishit Agarwal said that the students were threatened when they tried to raise the issue peacefully with the management. “They do not have proper classrooms… But they are increasing the number of students without increasing the accommodation and classrooms… The fees is increased by 10 per cent every year but the facilities are getting poorer.”
Vice-Chancellor Anjali Goyal did not respond to calls and text messages seeking a comment.
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