Himadri Kalita
As the students continue their strike following the death of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Silchar student Koj Buker, the college authorities have temporarily replaced the academic dean of the institution BK Roy, reports emerged on Thursday.
According to reports, the authorities of the institution replaced Dean BK Roy and gave the charge of Dean (Academics) as an interim measure to Associate Dean of Academics.
Speaking to Pratidin Time Digital, the registrar of NIT Silchar, Krishna Lal Bhaishnab informed “The final decision about dean academics will be taken after a meeting with the NIT Silchar director as there is a procedure that has to be followed. However, it could have been a different matter if BK Roy himself resigned from the post.”
“For now, BK Roy has been presided over by Lalit Chandra Saikia. He has been granted the responsibility of the Academic dean of NIT Silchar, till the matter is resolved,” he added.
Meanwhile, the students are still protesting putting forward the following six demands (placed on September 16) to the concerned authorities:
There should be no actions against any of our students neither from the NIT Silchar Administration nor from the Cachar Administration regarding the unfortunate incidents that took place yesterday
There must be a proper investigation regarding this case and proper action are to be taken after the findings
We demand immediate resignation of Dean Academic NIT Silchar (Prof. Binot Krishna Roy) as we believe the unfortunate incident could have been avoided had the administration been cooperative with the student fraternity
There must be proper compensation and all possible support for the family of the victim from the NIT Silchar Administration and Cachar Administration
All pending such disciplinary actions taken on the students which might trigger the same incident of suicide or mental distress must be reviewed with immediate effect
We have observed over time that our academic section is not at all student friendly. We want a high level committee to be formed to bring academic reforms in the college
Furthermore, the college authorities have clarified the statement of the Director of the institution that highlighted as saying “the incident was CHOTA-MOTA” in media.
In a press release, the authorities said, “In some of the press media the statement of the Director of the Institute was highlighted as saying ‘the incident was CHOTA-MOTA’. This is a complete anticipatory remark whereas the Director intended to say that since his joining some minor incidents (chota-mota) took place in the institute which was amicably settled down. The Director clarifies that he is completely shaken by this incident and expresses his heartfelt condolences to the departed soul and the bereaved family.”
It may be mentioned that the body of Koj Buker was found hanging under suspicious circumstances from a window inside the NIT hostel campus on September 15.
It came to the fore that the said engineering student had a backlog on several subjects from his first semester and therefore, the NIT authorities didn’t allow him to register for the third year until he cleared his backlogs.
Following this, the student decided to meet NIT Academic Dean BK Roy seeking help on the matter. But, his concerns were not taken into consideration. Owing to this, the student decided to end his life, as per sources.
