More than 900 students of National Institute of Technology Uttarakhand (NIT UK) in Pauri Garhwal district have gone home after their demands for a permanent and safe campus went unheard by the authorities, who say they have approached the Centre for help.

The 932 students, including those from B Tech and M Tech courses, left the campus after protesting for over 22 days since October 4 demanding that the present campus along the busy National Highway 58 in Srinagar Garhwal town should be shifted to a more favourable location in the plains.

They started their protest and boycott of classes after two students met with an accident on the highway while on their way to a college laboratory. Vaibhav Tiwari, a second-year student of electronics and communication, said they took this step because authorities were not paying heed to their demands despite protesting for so long.

Another student from the computer science department, Anjum, said that the current campus does not provide them with the facilities that an engineering student should have access to.

“NIT has to be an institute of national importance but this campus does not meet those parameters. We do not even have the proper equipment in our laboratories,” Anjum added.

The students have also written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind and Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to take cognizance of the situation.

The registrar of NIT UK Col Sukhpal Singh said college authorities can only write to the students and send messages through WhatsApp groups asking them to return.

“The college authorities are continuously approaching the ministry of human resources development and the state government, apprising them of the present situation. We are requesting them to take the necessary actions to address the problems of the students,” Singh said.

First Published: Oct 24, 2018 15:16 IST