Guwahati, May 4: Ajit Phukan, a postgraduate student of the city’s prestigious Cotton College who has been on hungerstrike since yesterday, was today admitted to the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury (MMC) Hospital here following rapid deterioration of his health.

Phukan is one of the Cottonians who launched a 50-hour hungerstrike yesterday to pressure Dispur into fulfilling their eight-point charter of demands, including introduction of better infrastructure and modern facilities at the century-old institution.

After completion of 24 hours of their hungerstrike, the protesters, many of whose conditions deteriorated, told reporters that they would continue to protest if the government failed to address their grievances. Doctors said fasting in the present heat condition could cause serious health complications.

“The fast will end tomorrow. But our protest and agitation will not end. Cottonians will wait for a few days for the government to reciprocate to their demands. If it remains passive, the Cotton College Union Society will resort to extreme steps to assert their demands,” said Samiran Baishya, general secretary of the CCUS, whose members had launched the hungerstrike yesterday.

Giving a glimpse into their plans for further agitation, Baishya said the CCUS would disrupt the admission process, slated for next month, if the government did not give a written assurance to fulfil their demands by then. “The government will be responsible for the situation,” he added.

Baishya also made it clear that the students would not pay the campus maintenance fees from this year because of deplorable conditions. He said the hostels had become hellholes and supply of impure water had led to an outbreak of jaundice among the boarders.

“The outbreak of jaundice has become an annual phenomenon at Cotton College. More and more students are shying away from staying in the hostels, which face a severe shortage of staff. Altogether 34 posts are lying vacant in the hostels. Of the nine hostels, the SNBC, the MNDP, the SRB and the ARB do not even have a sweeper or a gardener,” he pointed out.

Besides, Baishya added, “why should students pay for maintenance of the campus in a government college? It is the responsibility of the government.”

Among other things, the Cottonians are demanding a Rs 50-crore package for the overall development of the college, introduction of job-oriented courses and setting up of modern laboratories.

At present, 22 posts of teachers, 14 posts of laboratory bearers and several posts of grade III and IV employees are lying vacant.

This has adversely affected the academic and administrative functioning of the college. The CCUS fears that if this continues, the institution will become irrelevant in the academic arena.