Push for Sikkim NIT site... Students demand of a permanent campus

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, Aug 31, 2018, Gangtok: The Sikkim government has claimed that Union human resources minister Prakash Javadekar promised that an empowered committee would be sent to finalise the site for the permanent campus of the National Institute of Technology in the Himalayan state.

The Sikkim NIT has been functioning from a temporary site at Rabongla in South district. The Sikkim delegation was led by state human resources development minister R. B. Subba and included minister for power and energy D. D. Bhutia.

Students of the NIT have been on a peaceful protest for over a month, demanding a permanent campus and facilities befitting a premier engineering institution.

A state government release issued here said the meeting was held to find a permanent solution to the NIT land issue.

"Sri Javadekar assured the delegation from Sikkim that he himself will visit Sikkim very shortly since it is long overdue and will also send MHRD (ministry of human resources development) empowered committee to finalise the site of NIT before he visits Sikkim," said the release, adding that the union minister also promised to release funds for the construction of the institute expeditiously.

NIT Sikkim was among the 10 engineering institutes established by the Centre under the Act of Parliament in 2007. NIT Sikkim started functioning from the temporary campus near Rabongla in 2010. Since its inception, the campus has witnessed numerous protests and demonstrations with students demanding a permanent campus, preferably elsewhere because of the remoteness of Rabongla, which is about 120km from Gangtok, and also the adverse weather condition prevalent there.

"In the eight years of the existence of NIT Sikkim, the student strength has grown from the initial 50 to 800 now, but it is still operating from the same temporary campus with inadequate facilities," bemoaned a student.

Added another student: "The campus is ill-equipped to accommodate such a large number of students. The students cannot even find private places to stay in a small place like Rabongla."

Students also alleged that Rabongla does not have a single good medical facility, school, playground or any other institutions nearby.

"The place doesn't even have a good market to meet the basic requirements of the students. Moreover, due to its remote location, it is inconvenient for guest speakers, professors, resource persons and workshop trainers to reach the college campus which adversely affects the training and placement activities," the students complained.

Students said that a report prepared by the union human resources ministry in 2012 had found Rabongla unsuitable for setting up of the institute, and suggested scouting for land at Khamdong in East Sikkim. "The state government, however, did not heed the report and refused to shift the NIT campus from Rabongla," a student alleged. The Telegraph, however, could not independently peruse the report.