Kozhikode: The students at NIT here will continue to protest against the night curfew as the conciliatory talks held on Friday failed to reach in consensus. According to reports, Dr Rajankanth G K, the student dean has been hospitalised due to uneasiness amid the protest of the students during the discussions. As the meeting with the Dean failed, the NIT director also summoned a meeting to pacify the protesters. But it is learnt that the second meeting also didn't yield any positive results.

The students have been staging an agitation on the campus here over the implementation of the night curfew and closure of the canteen at 11 pm. The Dean has issued a circular regarding this on March 20. 

“Effective immediately, we will be closing late-night canteens by 11:00 pm and reintroducing night curfew regulations. All hostel residents must ensure they are back in their rooms by midnight at the latest. Violators will face suspension from the hostels if found to be in non-compliance,” reads the circular.

On Friday morning, the students laid a siege on the main gate of the NIT blocking the officials from entering the campus. 

Meanwhile, sitting MP Elamaram Kareem held talks with the NIT officials including director Prasad Krishna and registrar Shyam Sundar seeking a solution for the students' protest. Talking to the media, the MP said that NIT authority should have implemented the night curfew after holding talks with the students. 

“ I have proposed the NIT authority to lift the restrictions and re-introduce it only after justifying the reasons for its implementation before the students' representatives, said Elamaram Kareem.

The MP who is contesting in the upcoming general elections as an LDF candidate from Kozhikode also interacted with the students. 

One of the students alleged that the NIT had sent the circular to students around 3.55 pm on Wednesday and implemented it immediately.

The students started a protest on Wednesday night hours after the Dean issued the circular. 

NITC has claimed that the restrictions were introduced in the best interest of the health, safety, and academic success of students. 

Classes moved online
The NITC has announced that classes for all semesters of BTech/BArch will continue in the online mode beginning March 23rd until April 5.

However, the end-semester exams will also be held in the offline mode according to the revised academic calendar for the institution's winter semester (starting April 17).