IIIT-Basar students hold off on agitation amid impasse with authorities

ADILABAD: Students of IIIT-Basar on Saturday decided to postpone their agitation — on a list of 12 demands ranging from appointment of officials to tenders for uniforms and shoes — against the authorities for a few days because of ongoing exams and holidays for senior students.

They also hit out at the authorities for declaring offs for senior students from July 23 to 31, referring to it as a tactic to stop agitations. Student leaders, however, said that they would remain on campus.

The developments follow a meeting between parents and the interim Vice Chancellor Dr Venkataramana, along with director Satish Kumar, on Saturday evening.

Parents said that the VC told them that he had never set a deadline to resolve the issues, even as students had previously set a deadline of July end for action to be taken.

Parents were also worried that students might lose out on academics if they continue to strike, while some raised health concerns of open protests during heavy rains.

Students are mainly seeking the appointment of a regular vice chancellor, for which a chancellor must be appointed first. Further, following food poisoning around a fortnight ago, students have been demanding the replacement of the food contractors.

While parents said that students are being forced to fight for their genuine rights, students hit out at the authorities for a lack of progress on even long-pending issues.

Further, students said that their academics will be hit due to holidays declared by the institution, questioning the motive behind the move as it failed to postpone exams previously, during the Covid-19 waves, despite repeated requests.