900 NITUK students demand safer campus, leave for home in protest

Over 900 students of the National Institute of Technology, Uttarakhand have left en massefor theirhomes to press for their demand that the institute be shifted from its present "unsafe" location along National Highway 58 to a permanent campus, officials said.

The NITUK's temporary campus comprises two clusters. The hostels and classes are located on the government polytechnic campus while the administrative buildings and laboratories are located at the government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) located 400 metres away.

Students have been agitating since October 4 demanding that the institute be shiftedfrom its present location along NH 58 in the town which, according to them, was "unsafe".

Three B.Tech students had met with accidents while commuting from one cluster of the institute's temporary campus to another along the highway.

Two girl students of the institute were badlyinjured after being hitby a vehicle earlier this month while going from one cluster of the campusto the other sparking an agitation by the students.

The agitating students have threatened tocontinue their boycott of the lectures till the campus is shifted from its present location.

The NITUK students had held a six-day protest last year also demanding a permanent campus.

The agitating students have written to the President, the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Minister for Human Resource Development seeking their intervention to resolve their problems.

NITUK Registrar Colonel Sukhpal Singh said the HRD ministry has been apprised of the development.