SRINAGAR: Amidst the unrest on NIT Srinagar campus, outstation students have demanded that academic activities in the institute, including the Minors (exams), beginning this Monday, be deferred until normalcy returns.
The outstation students, including girls, who have been staging protests, claimed that officials of the college and HRD Ministry said the demand was “non-negotiable”.
“The minors should be postponed and at least 10 days’ gap be given. That way the matter could also be settled and a solution can be arrived at,” a student told PTI on condition of anonymity.
“Till our demands are met, no academic activity should take place in NIT. Academic activities should be postponed,” another student said.
“We had a meeting (on Friday), but it had zero output. They were giving assurances but no promises were made. They said we will make sure something is done on this… But no actions were taken,” he said.
However, an official from MHRD said the issue of deferring minors is “non-negotiable”, the student claimed.
“They are firm on their stand that minors should be held on Monday. I don’t know why they are pressuring this issue that minors should be held on Monday and said it’s a non-negotiable cause,” he said.
“We are not trying to create any political issue here. Our demands are for ensuring the safety of our academics,” another student said on condition of anonymity.
He also highlighted the cold weather conditions in which the students, including girls, were staging protests.
A student, who claimed he was present during the meeting on the issue with J&K Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and Education Minister on Friday, said they have clarified on their demands, which have been allegedly “misrepresented by the media”.
“The college administration was not present at the meeting. We apprised them of the entire issue since March 31 and also cleared our position concerning our demands because we have seen on media that some of our demands have been misrepresented. There are some which we never even asked for,” the student said.(Agencies)
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