A handwritten note pasted by students of Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) Patna on the walls of its architecture department reads: "The department inaugurated by our chief minister Nitish Kumar is about to be closed."

More than 200 students, mostly from the BIT-Patna's architecture wing, sat on a dharna on Monday, demanding approval of their institute from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and affiliation of their bachelor in architecture (BArch) course from the Council of Architecture. The students locked the administrative and accounts sections of the department and didn't allow officials and staff to work. The students threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not met.

The BIT-Patna campus, an initiative by the Nitish Kumar government, was set up in 2006. The students claimed that according to UGC directives, a technical (engineering) institute can open six off-campuses and for this, the mother institution (BIT-Mesra, Ranchi in this case) had to take approval from the UGC.

"The UGC directive states that for running off-campuses, the mother institution (BIT-Mesra) has to take approval from the UGC. But the institute has not done so," said Sujit, a fourth-year BArch student.

The students claimed there was no mention of BIT-Mesra off-campus institutes in the list of deemed and private universities, and alleged that their future was uncertain because of the lackadaisical approach of the BIT administration.

The BArch course at BIT-Patna is also not approved by the Council of Architecture. The students alleged that is why the degree offered by the institute is not accepted by other universities, and they would face difficulty in getting jobs or even going for private practice.

"BIT-Patna charges Rs 15 lakh for the five-year BArch course. After spending so much of time and money, if they come to know that their degree is not approved, it feels suicidal," said a student.

On Friday, BIT-Patna director S.P. Lal met senior administrative officials at BIT-Mesra and on Tuesday, he will go to Delhi to seek approval for the BArch course.

Another fourth year BArch student Akshra said: "Though the administration had acknowledged the problems of accredition, the students were kept in the dark. No step was initiated in this regard."