Students of Presidency University who are boarders of Eden Hindu Hostel held a sit-in on the campus through the night on Monday as the boys’ hostel is yet to be reopened.
The students held the sit-in outside the office of the dean of students, Arun Kumar Maity, demanding immediate reopening of the hostel and the appointment of a hostel superintendent.
The protesters held posters that said they were being forced to stay as paying guests as the hostel was yet to be reopened, despite the resumption of in-person classes.
Repeated calls and text messages to vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia and dean Maity failed to elicit any response.
Among the protesters were the 30-odd students who had forced their way into the hostel in March after breaking locks and have been staying there since. With them were other students who were staying at the hostel when it was closed following the onset of Covid and whose names still figure on the list of boarders.
Presidency has started the admission process for the girls’ hostel in Salt Lake. “But there is no word yet on the boys hostel as no superintendent has yet been appointed,” said a Presidency official.
Education minister Bratya Basu had in March told VC Lohia to reopen Hindu Hostel immediately. The Telegraph tried to get in touch with Basu, but he did not respond.
