Canteens run by IIT Kharagpur, which offer food to students at subsidised rates, will remain open from November 1, officials said.
A group of students back on the campus did not eat lunch on Tuesday alleging that the food at private canteens on the campus was too expensive.
“Only a fraction of our students are back on campus. So the authorities allowed only private canteens to remain open,” said an institute official.
“The authorities will decide on the number of institute-run canteens that will reopen based on the number of students availing themselves of the service.”
On Tuesday, about 200 BTech students skipped lunch because they found the food at the private canteens on the campus too expensive.
“Private canteens charge Rs 125 for a meal that costs Rs 100 at an institute-run canteen,” said a BTech student who did not want to be named.
“The Covid pandemic is eating into our families’ earnings and we are trying to save every penny possible. The institute is calling us back to the campus so we could attend online classes using the WiFi facilities at hostels. Yet, they did not reopen the subsidised canteens,” said the student.
Another student alleged that the quality of food at the private canteens is not up to the mark.
A teacher said discontent was growing among the students over the closure of the subsidised canteens. IIT officials met the protesting students on Wednesday to resolve the issue.
Dhrubajyoti Sen, the dean of students at the IIT, said: “We had plans to reopen the canteens from November 1 and students were informed about it. When only a minuscule number of students are present, it is not possible to resume the canteens run by us on a scale we would do before the pandemic. Factors like whether the canteens would have enough takers to reach the break-even point have to be decided.”
