PIL regarding NIT Row
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Directing the NIT authorities to ensure safety of all the students irrespective of the State they belong, a Division Bench of State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur on Friday disposed off the PIL observing that no direction as prayed for in the writ petition is required to be issued except that the authorities running the administration are expected to ensure the safety of all the students irrespective of the State they belong, namely, locals and non-locals.
Over 1200 outstation students had left the campus after boycotting their minor examination fearing for their safety in the wake of brutal lathicharge on the students by the Jammu and Kashmir police.
Hearing a PIL filed by Prof Hari Om seeking foolproof safety of the students on the campus, Division Bench observed that after going through the prayers made on 25th April 2016 the Advocate General, who was present in the Court, was requested to get instructions with regard to the following prayers that ensure fool proof security of the students at NIT Srinagar and further ensure free and fearless movement of the students at NIT Srinagar and for conducting examination of out stationed students of NIT Srinagar who could not appear for the examination and as to whether the examination of such candidates was rescheduled.
Division Bench further said that in so far as other prayers made in the writ petition are concerned, anyone is free to approach the authorities concerned by making a request.
Advocate General also submitted a status report in the court prepared by the Registrar NIT Srinagar.
Division Bench observed that from the above status report, it is evident that the normalcy is restored as 441 non local students including 90 girl students are attending the normal class work from 25th April 2016. Thus, Division Bench is of the view that the other students who have left for their home States can very well go to NIT Srinagar and attend their classes. The grievance of the non local students to conduct Minor-1 examination in which they could not appear from 11th April 2016 to 16th April 2016 is also rescheduled for 5th to 8th May 2016.
According to the Registrar, “NIT Srinagar was formally known as REC Srinagar and was established in the year 1960 and upgraded as National Institute of Technology along with other RECs of the country in August 2003 and admissions are made on the basis of all India Entrance Test JEE Main. As per the policy, 50 per cent students are admitted from the State of Jammu and Kashmir and remaining 50 per cent are from other States of the Country. The admissions to M.Tech are made on National qualifying examination GATE without any reservation for the home State. The admission to Ph.D programme is made through a National advertisement on the basis of GATE score/NET and a test cum interview conducted by the Institute without any reservation for the home State. In all the programmes, the reservation for SC/ST/OBC/PWD as per Government of India rules is applied.
The present enrolment in the Institute is 2671 comprising 2260 B.Tech., 258 M.Tech., and 153 Ph.D Scholars of which 298 are girls. The number of students residing in the hostels is 1993 boys and 199 girls. The status of home State students include B.Tech: 1099, M.Tech: 124 and Ph.D: 138 and the students from other States comprise of B.Tech: 1152, M.Tech: 134 and Ph.D. 15.
It is stated in the status report that the Institute reopened on 25th February 2016 and atmosphere was very peacefully till April 2016. Even after 1st April 2016, two days National Research Scholars Conclave was conducted on April 2 and 3, 2016 in which several Academicians from other parts of the country participated. The normal classes continued from 4th April 2016, however, a good number of non local students from 2nd, 4th and 6th semester did not attend the classes. As per the approved academic calendar, the Minor-1 examination was conducted as per schedule from 11th April 2016 to 16th April 2016 in which most of the non local students failed to appear as about 1200 non local students left for their home States. Even during the said period, the atmosphere in the Institute remained calm due to which both local and non local students stayed in the hostels and were taking food together in the common mess.
Since around 1200 non local students failed to appear in the Minor-1 examination, their examination has been rescheduled from 5th May 2016 to 8th May 2016. Around 441 non local students including 90 girl students returned from their home States and are attending their normal class work from 25th April 2016.
There is no discrimination between local and non local students as the students participated in various inter NIT sports events at Trichy, Jaipur and Calicut from December 15 to April 16. Two non local students were sponsored by the Institute with air fare to participate in the innovation festival at Rashtrapati Bhavan in January 2015. It is also stated that all the students have been treated as children by
