The graduating students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur who hail from other states can collect their belongings from hostels, the institute has said.

The authorities want to sanitise the hostels and keep them ready for the institute’s research scholars, an NIT official said.

The institute on Monday issued guidelines with the protocol students have to follow on reaching the campus to collect their belongings, which they had left while vacating the campus in March when the Centre had announced the lockdown.

The NIT had in July asked students living in Bengal to collect their belongings, the institute official said. Now that the travel restrictions have been eased, students from other states can collect their belongings from the hostels.

“The Centre has advised institutes to resume academic and research activities in phases, including visits by PhD students who require laboratories for their work,” Anupam Basu, the NIT director, said. “Once students collect their belongings, we can start disinfecting the hostels to accommodate PhD students while maintaining safety protocols.”

If the students living outside Bengal find it difficult to reach the campus, they can authorise someone living in Bengal to collect their belongings, another institute official said. “We have to sanitise the rooms thoroughly before research scholars are allowed in.”

Since classes are being held online, second and third-year students are not present on the campus, another official said. First-year admissions are underway.

Research scholars across the country have long been petitioning the education ministry to let them resume research work as many had to leave crucial research midway because of the lockdown, a teacher said.

At NIT Durgapur, outgoing final-year undergraduate students who live in Bengal had to vacate the hostels 4, 5 and 13 between July 27 and August 2 and hostels 9 and 10 between August 3 and 10.

“A similar detailed exit advisory will be issued for those who are from other states,” an official said.

At the Durgapur institute, half of the seats are reserved for those domiciled in Bengal.

Students have to wear face masks and follow distancing rules on reaching the campus. They have to return any pending library books.