Teachers at IIEST Shibpur marched through the campus on Wednesday as part of a “Save IIEST” initiative and to protest the absence of basic infrastructure, erratic recruitment and lack of appropriate classrooms and laboratories.
The teachers alleged that academic and residential buildings were in a state of disrepair and the campus had “become a junkyard”.
Late on Wednesday, four IIEST teachers got a letter from the registrar that said: “I (registrar) have been directed to seek an explanation from you regarding your alleged involvement in displaying banner outside Gate No. 1 & 2 in the evening....”
When contacted by this newspaper, registrar Debasish Dutta declined to comment. Calls and text messages from this newspaper to director Parthasarathi Chakrabarti went unanswered. Students and teachers walked in a rally against CAA in January 2020.
On Wednesday, around 100 teachers started their march from a spot on the campus known as the “first lobby” at 5pm. The teachers walked past the director’s bungalow.
“Despite being a residential institution, a large number of students are forced to stay outside the campus because of inadequate hostel accommodation. The hostels are poorly maintained. Academic and residential buildings are in a state of disrepair,” said Tapendu Mandal, secretary of the teachers’ association at IIEST.