Unaffiliated Malda institute leaves students in lurch, Mamata govt puts onus on Centre

Students who tried contacting officials of the state education department were turned away after being told that the institute was under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the matter was for the Centre to resolve.

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Institute’s management admitted that there were problems regarding recognition of the academic programmes. “I came here four months ago. My predecessors did nothing to address the issue. I am with the students and I am in talks with the MHRD. It is being pursued and soon a solution to the problem would be found,” said Bijay Kumar Dwivedi, the professor in-charge of the institute.

The foundation stone of the main building of the institute at Narayanpur was laid in 2010 by the then PM Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Later in 2014, the building was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee. However, admissions to the institute began in 2010 itself.

“Since we didn’t have a building at that time, we used to attend classes initially at Malda Poly Technique College at Lakshmipur, about 12 km away from the main building and then at a rented place at TTC Powergrid building at Lakshmipur itself. The main building is still under construction,” said Mandira Mondal, a protesting student form the institute’s first batch.

Another student, Alamgir Khan, added: “Earlier, there was a lot of information on the official website of the institute…but now it (the website) is almost defunct.” The institute reportedly enrolled 30 students in each of the seven courses offered every year since 2010.

The district administration, meanwhile, has refused to intervene in the matter. Additional DM Malda Debatosh Mandal told The Indian Express,”There has been some trouble over affiliation to the institute for some time now. But it is an internal matter for the institute and the administration is not interfering in it.’’