The KIIT in Bhubaneswar has given students from Nepal the option of flight tickets to return and reimbursement for when they had to go back to their country, an official of the deemed university told The Telegraph Online on Saturday.
The KIIT has been in the eye of a storm since the death of a Nepali student last month, allegedly by suicide, and the handling of subsequent protests that led to an exodus of Nepali students from campus. The students had alleged they were abused and beaten up and the matter has snowballed into a major row with governments getting into the act.
The students from Nepal got an email this week from the university mentor, Nayan Kumar Subhashish, asking them to fill out a form by 10am the next day. The form required details such as student roll number, name, Indian phone number, boarding date, boarding point, college photo ID, and flight preference for booking tickets.
Sourced by the correspondent
A Nepali student from the computer science department said that the university had told them it was also willing to reimburse the travel expenses they incurred when they were asked to leave.
“The situation in the university is normal now and students are requested to come back,” varsity mentor Subhashish said.
“We are providing tickets and it is an option; those who want tickets can get it from the university. We have sent ticket forms to the students to be filled via email. After the students return to the university they can also get their previous travel expenses – which they incurred while leaving from Bhubaneshwar – reimbursed. I have spoken to the International Relations Office of the university. This will only be done after the students return.” he added.
Students will start returning to campus from March 2.
Screenshot of the e-mail sent to students
“The university has removed 10-15 staff, but all are verbal things with nothing written,” a student from Nepal told The Telegraph Online on condition of anonymity. “No written confirmation has till now been provided to us. We were asked to return back by March 2. The university sent us a form and is even paying for our flight tickets. They said that they will even pay for the costs incurred by us to return back to Nepal when we left the college. I am returning back to college on March 5. My exams will start from March 10, at present the exams are going on for Indian students in the campus. As per my information the protests in the college have stopped.”
The student added: “It is all the fault of the college. Now, to cover up, they are doing all this to protect their reputation.”
The KIIT had earlier taken several steps following the protests on campus after the alleged suicide of a 20-year-old student, Prakriti Lamsal. The university has said it has set up a 24/7 control room for international students.
Action has been taken against certain staff members of the college, the university has said.
A high-level committee formed by the Odisha government is investigating the incident, according to news agency PTI.
On Thursday, senior KIIT officials, including the chief proctor and director, appeared before the committee. The panel questioned them about allegations that the deceased student had reported harassment to the university’s International Relations Office.
Earlier, on February 21, KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta and other top officials had also recorded their statements before the committee, which is looking into the circumstances of the student's death.
Samanta in a video message had requested students from Nepal to return to campus.
