Kerala: Students from NITC are fighting against the campus’s night curfew

The National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NITC) campus is experiencing a wave of discontent as students stage a large-scale demonstration against the government’s plan to impose a night curfew. A sizable student protest was held in front of the school gates on Friday morning, obstructing instructors and interfering with the institute’s regular operations.

 

The disturbance began on March 20 when Rajanikant G K, the Dean of Students’ Welfare, published a circular detailing new rules requiring students to return to their dorms by midnight.

The circular also announces that, as part of the initiative to “regulate student activities and ensure compliance with new curfew regulations,” the campus canteen will shut at 11 p.m., beginning immediately. The canteen used to be open around-the-clock. The circular states that the action is intended to bring order back to campus in the face of growing tensions. Additionally, it forewarned that failure to comply would result in students’ dormitory privileges being suspended.

A significant number of students gathered in front of the college registrar’s main office on Friday as the dean departed the school, claiming health concerns. The registrar and the director of NIT-C met with the Students Affairs Council (SAC) delegates later that evening. However, it seems that no agreement was reached at the conciliatory meeting, thus the students have chosen to go on with their demonstrations.

Students argue that since their academic obligations extend into the evening, those with afternoon schedules are disproportionately impacted by the curfew. ~

New standards

Before midnight, students are expected to return to their dorm rooms.

According to the circular, the campus canteen will shut at 11:00 p.m.

“The new rules are arbitrary and restrictive.”

Vysakh Premkumar, a fourth-year NIT-C BTech student, said, “We have been asked to keep our mouths shut on various issues that have been happening on campus.” “From dawn to dusk, we staged protests in front of the campus until the director of the institution summoned us for a meeting. The new rules are oppressive and arbitrary, and our protest is a reflection of the students’ larger feelings of dissatisfaction and defiance,” he continued.

Elamaram Kareem, the head of the CPM, spoke with college administrators and students in the interim. Speaking with reporters, the LDF’s Kozhikode LS candidate stated: “I have proposed to the college administration that the new changes be implemented gradually. The reasonable requests made by the students should be taken into consideration by the college administration. A few weeks ago, tensions on the NIT-C campus peaked due to a student protest against the dedication of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. This is when the students became agitated.

“I would like to emphasize that unrestricted late-night access and late-operating canteens have presented serious challenges to the administration,” the dean said in the circular that was released on Wednesday. We have made the decision to make modifications to our late-night canteen operations and night curfew policy after giving it some thought, consulting with others, and taking into account the difficulties and issues that have come up.

It’s clear that late-night eating has resulted in bad food selections, which have a negative impact on your general health and nutrition. The circular said, “We have noticed a troubling trend where mindful eating has been forgotten, and this is reflecting poorly on your physical well-being.”