Students angry after being asked to vacate hostel for NYF guests

NT Correspondent

Hubballi: Amid brewing anger among students, the Karnataka University Dharwad (KUD) has not only suspended classes but also ordered hostel students to vacate their rooms to accommodate delegates and participants at the 26th National Youth Festival here.

The KUD’s move came in abidance of a Karnataka government circular and ahead of the inauguration of the five-day-long National Youth Festival (NYF) at the Railway Sports Ground in Hubballi on Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  It is for the first time that the NYF is being organised in Dharwad district.

Around 30,000 students, 7,500 delegates and other figures are expected to participate in the event from across the nation. In order to accommodate the participants at the festival, the KUD declared a week-long holiday and suspended all classes from January 9 to 17, in the wake of orders from the state government.

The university has also ordered hostel students, including girls, to vacate their hostels for nine days to accommodate the participants. The students have been angry over the decision of the university authorities as it has been barely a month since the classes for postgraduate students for the academic year 2022- 23 began.

Over 250 to 300 people are expected to be accommodated in each of the hostel premises. Forced to vacate their college hostels, most of the students have now taken refuge at their friends’ houses. Many have travelled back to their villages. Students are an unhappy lot as many wanted to attend the festival too but had to inevitably go back home.

Some of the students News Trail spoke to claimed that upon raising objections over the issue, the authorities promised them to renovate the hostel as compensation. The faculty have expressed helplessness over the issue and said that they are bound by the government and the university’s decision. Now, they will have to conduct extra classes during the weekends and holidays to make up for the lost time.

“The science department has to not only conduct theory classes but should also conduct practical ones. The university must have found an alternative instead of suspending the classes for a week,” a faculty member said.