Bhubaneswar: Days after the death of a Nepalese student on the KIIT University campus here, the Odisha government has set up a professors’ committee to safeguard the interest of students and ensure a proper academic environment at the private institute, a minister said in the assembly Friday.
Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said the government also summoned six more officials of the private institute to record their statements on the death of the undergraduate woman and the subsequent attack on Nepalese students of the institute.
The minister was replying to a written question from Congress member Taraprasad Bahinipati.
The lawmaker asked what measures the state government has taken following the death of 20-year-old Nepalese student Prakriti Lamsal and the subsequent unrest on the KIIT campus.
Lamsal’s body was recovered from the university campus February 16.
“To safeguard students’ academic interests and resume classes smoothly, the Higher Education Department has constituted a special committee, comprising two senior professors from Utkal University and two from Rama Devi Women’s University. This committee members will visit KIIT every 15 days for the next three months to monitor the academic environment and later visit the campus every month,” the minister said.
The state government has already set up a high-level committee headed by the additional chief secretary (home) to probe into the KIIT incidents, the minister said.
As many as 14 top KIIT officials, including its founder Achyuta Samanta, have deposed before the panel.
The committee also comprises the principal secretaries of the Women and Children’s Development Department and the Higher Education Department.
The minister informed the assembly that the high-level committee had, March 6, summoned the director of student affairs, the director general of international relations and the director of administration of KIIT for questioning.
In addition to the three top officials, three students of KIIT University have also been instructed to attend the hearing, he said.
The minister also informed the House that the high-level committee had visited the KIIT campus February 18 and inspected both boys’ and girls’ hostels.
The panel members reviewed measures taken by the authorities for the safe return of Nepalese students, he said.
Suraj said that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and he held discussions with the Nepalese ambassador and senior officials of that country and assured them that students would not face further hindrance in continuing their studies in the varsity.
The minister also informed the House that the state’s Higher Education Department has set up a 24×7 helpdesk to facilitate the safe return of Nepalese students to the institute.
This desk is equipped with four landline numbers and a WhatsApp number, he said.
The Nepalese students, who sought justice and protested after the death of the undergraduate woman, were allegedly abused, threatened and assaulted by KIIT officials and security guards.
They were allegedly served eviction notices, driven out of their hostel rooms and dropped at a railway station.
PTI
