Kathmandu [Nepal], March 2 (ANI): Nepal lawmaker Madan Kumari Shah on Sunday demanded the Indian government’s plan for students who returned from KIIT (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology) University of Odisha, India.
Addressing a meeting of the National Assembly, Nepal’s upper house, Shah demanded the government’s plan to rehabilitate students still fearful of returning to the institution.
“After the death of Nepali student Prakriti Lamsal in KIIT University in India’s Odisha state, the behaviour that was shown by the administration there that was tyrant, injustice and inhuman behaviour towards the remaining Nepali students; Indian citizens, students union and other organization who voiced in support are to be thanked for. I would ask the government about the information of the students who have returned back after the incident, would inquire about the plans made by Nepal government about their rehabilitation,” Shah said.
A third-year BTech student from Nepal, Prakriti Lamsal, had ended her life by hanging in her hostel room following a suspected strained relationship with another male student from KIIT on February 16. Following the death, students particularly of Nepali origin took to the street demanding arrest of the boy responsible for abusing of the girl leading to her suicide.
On 17 February, more than 500 Nepali students enrolled in the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) were forced to leave the campus in Bhubaneswar. The private institution in the state of Odisha announced sine-die for all Nepali students, sending busloads of Nepalese students to Cuttack Railway Station, 30km from the institute. Later in the evening, the institution retracted its decision and called back the students.
Despite the institution’s call to return to the university, hundreds of students have decided not to, fearing repression. Nepal doesn’t have a record of Nepali students currently enrolled at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Odisha, India, nor definitive data on how many students have returned since the incident.
Despite the significant number of returnees, officials at Nepal’s Ministry of Education have stated they do not have accurate figures on the number of Nepali students originally enrolled at KIIT or who have since returned.
Around 5,000 Nepalese students receive government-issued NOCs each year to study in India, with many others attending Indian institutions without formal approval. In the current fiscal year, 66,000 students have obtained NOCs in eight months, with 4,373 specifically for India. (ANI)
