The elder sister of an IIEST Shibpur student has sparked anguish after posting pictures on LinkedIn showing the deplorable condition of her brother’s hostel, asking: “Is this where future engineers are supposed to live?”
The post, which tags the institute’s director and the Union education ministry, shows crumbling walls and ceilings, water leaking throughout corridors, and trash-filled hallways in hostels 15 and 16.
“These are not images of an abandoned building or a post-disaster site. These are real photos of the boys’ hostel that students live in,” she wrote.
The sister, who is pursuing research at IIT Hyderabad, described the conditions as “incomprehensible” and questioned how such facilities could be considered acceptable for students.
“We often speak of pushing a ‘Viksit Bharat,’ of innovation, STEM, and world-class education. But how can we expect that from students who are forced to live in conditions that actively harm their physical and mental well-being?” she wrote.
The Telegraph is not naming either the student or his sister on request.
High fees
Speaking to The Telegraph, she highlighted the disconnect between what students pay and what they receive: “The hostel and mess fees for each semester are ₹25,500. But the living conditions are pathetic.”
The institute’s director, V.M.S.R. Murthy, did not respond to calls and text messages.
Nirmalya Bhattacharyya, joint registrar (academic) and public relations officer, dismissed the images as “old pictures” that “must have been taken in May or June,” claiming necessary repairs had been completed. When reminded that the July 29 post states the pictures were taken on July 27, he maintained his position.
When pointed out that his statement meant students lived in inhospitable conditions until at least May-June, Bhattacharya said: “This is an old hostel. We carry out repairs periodically. The institute will soon inaugurate a new hostel that can accommodate 1,000 students.”
Students’ dilemma
The LinkedIn post has opened floodgates of concern among current and prospective students. One candidate who secured admission to IIEST’s electrical engineering programme wrote: “I got the IIEST electrical department, but after seeing the pictures, I am going to change my choice in CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board).”
A candidate is required to clear the JEE Main examination to secure admission to the NITs and IIEST Shibpur.
A current electronics and telecommunications stream student confirmed the widespread nature of the problem. “This is so accurate. Almost all the residential buildings are like this. With uncleanliness, it gives way to dangerous diseases and people are already infected with it. The Dean and the Warden don’t listen when students complain about basic infrastructure and cleanliness,” the student wrote in the comments to the LinkedIn post.
A former student’s comment on the same thread underscored how long these issues have persisted: “Ahh, Nostalgia. Except for the washing machine, everything looks exactly the same as I left it at that time. Feels like time has no effect on it.”
Years of neglect
The poor hostel conditions at IIEST — a 169-year-old campus formerly known as Bengal Engineering College — are not new. In August 2022, the teachers’ association wrote to the director, noting that “the majority of existing hostels need extensive renovations”.
Around that time, concrete chunks fell from a hostel ceiling onto a fourth-year student’s bed. The student escaped injury only because he was attending classes.
A professor expressed disappointment that the 2014 conversion from state-run Bengal Science and Engineering University to the central institution IIEST had not brought the infrastructure improvements. “We expected improvements. But unfortunately, that did not happen,” he said.
The sister’s post detailed additional concerns, including “a lizard found in the mess food recently”. “These are young minds, far from their homes, trusting the system to support them… Where is the basic sense of accountability? We’re not even talking about modern amenities, just the bare minimum,” she wrote.
