With the hashtag IIIT in a shed, students have begun uploading images of the soggy building site at Kholvad village in Kamrej taluka of Surat district.
The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Surat is planning to relocate to its own 28-acre campus, which is still under construction and has temporary metal buildings for classrooms, for the new academic year that starts on August 8.
The institute, which is considered to be of “national importance,” has come under fire for this, and students have asked that it continue operating from its interim location at the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) in Surat until construction is finished.
Since June 2017, SVNIT, its mentor organization, has served as the location for IIIT-Surat. The MoU it has with SVNIT to use its campus, however, expires on July 31.
With the hashtag IIIT in a shed, students have begun uploading images of the soggy building site at Kholvad village in Kamrej taluka of Surat district. According to J S Bhat, the principal of IIIT-Surat, what the students were referring to as “tin sheds” were actually “imported engineering materials” that had been authorized by the authorities.
He claimed that the temporary buildings, including classrooms, labs, a restroom, and a canteen, are being built on 1.75 acres by the Central Public Works Department for a cost of Rs 9 crore. Due to rain delays, he added, the project is anticipated to be finished by August 10.
“The location will be equipped with every amenity, including classrooms with cool temperatures, a bathroom, and a canteen. The ministry had given its approval for the supplies that were utilized to construct the makeshift classrooms.
Student in the fifth semester of electronics and communication at IIIT Surat, who asked to remain anonymous. “At the new location, work is ongoing, making it challenging for us to focus on our studies. In addition, our lodging is 12 kilometers away.
The hostel is located in a government school in the village of Valthan, according to sources.
The student said, “We have established a Twitter page where we post our difficulties. We would like to be relocated to another NIT campus while our new facility is being built and equipped with all the necessary amenities. We will have issues after finishing our course because we worry that no employers will come to a placement facility built out of tin. Before August 8th, when we arrive in Surat, we will present our case for being relocated. We will stage a protest if our demands are not met.
With the hashtag “IIIT in a shed,” Ambikesh Mishra’s Twitter account posted the following: “Our seniors worked so hard and earned fantastic placements with an average above 14 lakh LPA. What do you think, though, about which international corporations will do placement interviews in a Tin Shed that doesn’t even have conference rooms?
“First year online without adequate studying makes me feel miserable more and more each day. Why must we put up with this? Was our preparation inadequate?, Shame on IIIT Surat If you can’t run a college, transfer us to a decent one, said a Twitter user going by the name of Swayam Behera.
The land was given to IIIT Surat by the Gujarati government in 2020, according to principal Bhat. The construction was delayed because of the pandemic and lockdown. We will move the pupils there once our new facilities, a concrete building, are finished in around two years. The former locations will be used for research, training, and other purposes.
Electronic and Communication Engineering and Computer Science Engineering are both B.Tech degrees offered by IIIT Surat.
The first batch of 96 students in both engineering specialties graduated in 2021, and the second cohort, which will graduate this year, will have 115 students. According to sources, there are more than 340 students enrolled at IIIT Surat, which only has about 22 faculty members, as opposed to the 32 that are needed. A few SVNIT professors filled the gap in funding.
IIIT-Surat was established after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the president, the governor of Gujarat, and business associates Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizer and Chemicals (GNFC), Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL), and Gujarat Gas Limited, all of which are state-run public utilities.
