Presidency University students continue agitation over hostel

Kolkata, Aug 6 : Presidency University students continued their campus sit-in to protest the authorities' alleged failure to shift them back to the Eden Hindu Hostel even as its Vice Chancellor said on Monday that renovation will take some more time.

The administration had earlier assured the students that they would be able to shift back by August 1. As that dateline was missed, almost 100 students, most of them boarders of the old hostel, organised a sit-in here from August 3. 

Students says they want to return to the Hindu Hostel as it is near the campus and will save them travel time.

"We are trying our best to complete the hostel renovation. I take responsibility for the delay. The day the PWD (Public Works Department) engineers give us a date on which the hostel is secured, we will accommodate the students," said Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia.

The iconic Eden Hindu Hostel (established in 1886) has remained shut for almost three years for renovation. Meanwhile, the students have been provided temporary accommodation in New Town, nearly 15 km away from the campus.

Carrying a mattress on his shoulder and settling on the campus, one of the protesting students said: "For now this is our home. We will stay here till we are given back our old hostel."

According to Lohia, the students are staying in another government-provided hostel for the last three years.

"There, we have provided same facilities as are given in Hindu Hostel. They are given free transport from the hostel in Rajarhat.

"The PWD engineers have tentatively said that the hostel will be ready in the next four-five months, but I will not now make the mistake of giving a definite date," Lohia added.