Teachers at IIT Kharagpur have opposed the institution’s decision to erect a brick wall to permanently block the gate that connects the campus with Prembazar and Hijli Co-operative Society.
The institute’s board of governors had last year passed a resolution tabled by the then director, V.K. Tewari, to build a brick wall to block the gate permanently, disregarding the teacher’s objections.
In their letter to the Union education ministry on September 20 last year, the IIT Kharagpur Teachers’ Association had complained that Tewari’s decision to keep the gate closed “vitiated the harmony between the campus and the neighbouring community”.
The teachers have iterated their opposition in their first meeting with the IIT’s interim director.
Amit Patra, the director of IIT BHU (Varanasi) who has been asked to officiate as the IIT Kharagpur director by the Union education ministry, told Metro: “The teachers have told me about their opposition to what was decided at the board meeting regarding the Prembazar gate. The decision was taken earlier. I have heard what the teachers had to say.”
Patra also said he would consult the teachers before deciding on the relocation of the staff and infrastructure of BC Roy Technology Hospital, located on the campus, to a
hospital built by the IIT 4km away.
The interim director met the teachers on Tuesday in a customary interaction after taking over the institute’s helm.
“We conveyed to the interim director our opposition to the resolution adopted by the board of governors on building a brick wall to block the Prembazar gate permanently. We told him that this would cause inconvenience to those living in the neighbouring community. The interim director was requested to discuss the issue again at the board and reconsider the decision,” said a professor who attended the meeting.
The gate connects the campus with Prembazar and Hijli Co-operative Society and many IIT employees and their family members live in those areas.
The IIT campus has five gates, of which only the Prembazar gate remains closed.
Tewari, who became director in December 2019, shut the gate after the onset of the Covid pandemic citing security reasons. “While four gates were reopened after the pandemic receded, the Prembazar gate remains shut,” said an IIT official.
Calls and text messages from this newspaper to Tewari went unanswered.
A member of the IIT Teachers’ Association said faculty and other staff members in the Prembazar area face problems commuting to the institute and back home. Domestic help, gardeners and daily wage earners hired by IIT employees staying on the campus face the same problem, a professor said.
“It is not clear how keeping the gate open could compromise security,” the professor said.
Several IIT teachers had gathered near the gate on April 15, 2023, to protest the decision to keep it closed.