Mob attack at Gujarat University: Efforts initiated to make foreign students feel ‘at home’, ‘comfortable’, says ICCR

On Tuesday, two senior diplomats from the Gambia High Commission in Delhi visited the ICCR office in Ahmedabad and the varsity in the aftermath of the violence. The diplomats are understood to be in direct touch with the regional office to keep a tab on the steps taken.

Meanwhile, as per the directions from ICCR headquarters, Gujarat University has been asked to beef up the security at the hostel of the international students. A new security agency has been onboarded in view of these instructions for the new NRI hostel where foreign students have been shifted following the incident.

The ICCR is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that annually awards about 3,900 scholarships under 21 different schemes to foreign nationals from about 190 countries. Ahmedabad is among the six cities in the country that has a major concentration of such foreign students apart from Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, and Kolkata.

In addition to the Gujarat University, ICCR has also contacted other state universities and asked them to ensure the safety of foreign students and address grievances, if any, officials added.

ICCR officials have also established contact with the around 225 foreign students who are not residing at the GU hostel. “We have contacted all the students and asked them if they are facing any issues. They have been assured that they can visit the regional office or contact the officials anytime if they have any problems. But so far, there has not been even a single complaint from any student,” Kumar added.

About 300 foreign students enrolled in Gujarat University are from countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Indonesia, African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Mali, Mozambique, Botswana, Kenya among others.

Among the 21 ICCR schemes, six are funded by the ICCR and others are administered on behalf of the MEA and the Ministry of AYUSH. The students can enrol for undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD programmes. In any academic year, the ICCR supports about 7,000 foreign students.  The scholarships benefits include a stipend covering living allowance, hostel fee or house rent allowance, annual contingency allowance and thesis charges, tuition, and other compulsory fees paid directly to the university institute.

Nearly 3,900 scholarships were offered in 2022-23 while a total of 15,900 applications were received for the academic year, as per the available data.

After Saturday night’s violence, Gujarat University has been taking stock of lapses and taking various measures to avoid such incidents in future. Vice Chancellor Dr Neerja A Gupta on Wednessday chaired a meeting of all Heads of Departments to brief them on issues about foreign students. “We were asked to establish interactions with the foreign students, be polite to them, and listen to their problems. We already have been doing this but after the incident, it has been reiterated,” said one of the HoDs. This will be followed by another meeting with principals of colleges under Gujarat University where foreign students have enrolled.