Memorandum of demands from the students of IIIT Allahabad( modified)

The student community of IIIT Allahabad proposes the following set of demands to the Board of Governors of IIIT Allahabad:

1.      The student community has lost its confidence in the leadership of the Director Dr. M.D. Tiwari and under his directorship we do not feel safe, neither in practicing our right to ‘Freedom of expression’ nor academically. Thus we demand that our director should be changed and a new director should be appointed in light of the following facts:

a.      For over 12 years now the Naini campus is still being used to house the first year students of the B.Tech programme at IIIT Allahabad. The administration has failed to provide regular accommodation for first year students at the main campus while at the same time ample land and development funds have been available with the institute and have not been utilized as envisaged. Further, minimal facilities are available at the Naini campus and recently Akshay Tyagi died at the Naini campus and could not be rushed to any medical assistance as the Naini campus has no medical facility and is 19km away from the main Allahabad city.

b.      Dr. M.D. Tiwari has consistently used his position to harass the faculty and staff of IIIT Allahabad. In recent years, the institute has seen a steady exodus of faculty members and false charges were slapped against Dr. U.S. Tiwary (former Dean Academics of the Institute) to force him to leave the Institute.

c.      Under Dr. M.D. Tiwari’s tenure students have regularly faced the brunt of summary fines and dictatorial actions. In a recent incident, students were fined Rs. 1000 per person for taking a leave on the festival of Rakshabandhan. Such actions from the administration are the order of the day at IIIT Allahabad.

d.   It is pertinent to mention that the director informed the entire student community present at Akshya’s condolence that his family was offered a sum of 50 lac rupees. This turned out to be a false information.

2.      As promised earlier by the Director of IIITA himself, a sum of Rs. 10 lakhs should be awarded as compensation for the family of the deceased student – Akshay Tyagi. Further, employment for the family member of the deceased and other scholarships in his name should also be instituted.

3.      The Naini hostel should be withdrawn from service with immediate effect and all first year students should be accommodated into the main campus at Jhalwa promptly. The Naini campus offers no utility value to the Institute or to the students and it makes no sense whatsoever for 250 students to travel 19 km to and fro daily for their regular classes.

4.      An ambulance with emergency medical services should be pressed into 24-hour service at all campuses of IIIT Allahabad with immediate effect. Further, proper medical staff should be hired and services at medical centers of the Institute should be upgraded as soon as possible

5.      Transparency should be observed in the awarding of mess contracts and students should be involved in the running of messes at hostels. Food poisoning and other complaint cases have been a regular feature at IIITA hostel messes and therefore mess contracts should be scrutinized and cancelled when appropriate quality standards are not adhered to.

6.      Even after 12 years of its inception IIIT Allahabad does not have a student Gymkhana or any independent student body. We demand that a Student Gymkhana be constituted with immediate effect to effectively raise student interests and demands with the administration as necessary.