Presidency students in sit-in over hostel accommodation

Around 70 students of Presidency University here have been holding a sit-in within the campus for 31 hours demanding that they be alloted rooms in an old hostel building under renovation.

Ujan, a spokesman of the agitating students and member of Independent Consolidation (IC) students' union, said two blocks of the Hindu Hostel have already been renovated and should be handed over to the outstation boarders immediately.

"We will carry on the sit-in unless the university authorities open a channel of communication with us in this regard,," he told PTI.

Ujan said 70 students have been on a dharna before the office of registrar since 2 pm yesterday.

Vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia yesterday said in a statement it will take another four to five months to make the Hindu Hostel "habitable and safe for students".

The university authorities went back on their promise to renovate the hostel by July 15 and throw it open to students on August 1, Ujan claimed.

The hostel adjoining the College Street institution was shut down for repairs on July 29, 2015, and 150 boarders were shifted to a rented accommodation in New Town, which is quite far from the campus. The boarders cite communication problem for attending classes from the New Town accommodation.

A university spokesman said the registrar and other officials had left.

"The university officials left by another gate without communicating with us. They have left but we will continue to sit-in till they listen to our demands," Ujan said.

He said apart from members of SFI and IC, boarders not affiliated to any union were also participating in the agitation.

The vice-chancellor was not available for comment.

The university spokesman said the six blocks of the hostel were in a dilapidated state with plaster peeling off the walls and ceilings.