KIIT dispute: Odisha government gets strict, instructs private institutes to take action against unruly employees

The Odisha government has directed the authorities of the private institute KIIT to take action against the staff who misbehaved with other students following the recent incident of a Nepali girl student committing suicide in the hostel. The state government's directive came a day after Nepal's Foreign Minister Dr Arjuna Rana Deuba had a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi.

The Nepal Foreign Minister demanded that the teachers and staff who misbehaved with the Nepali students be removed from the college. A senior official said that we have instructed the KIIT administration to take action as soon as possible to restore the confidence of Nepali students, who have not returned to the campus yet.

The Nepal government has also raised concerns that if the "unruly" teachers and staff remain in the institute, its students may face retaliation. About 1,000 Nepali students study at KIIT, but despite the government's assurance and the institute's apology, only a few of them have returned to the campus so far.

The students, especially the girls, who were forcibly evicted from the hostel on Monday (17 February) and left without tickets at a railway station away from Bhubaneswar, have not yet recovered from the horrific experience, a Nepali student said. The police have arrested 10 KIIT employees, including some director-level officials, security guards, and others, after examining CCTV footage.

According to a press release issued by KIIT on February 18, two security personnel have been removed from service, while two senior hostel officials and a senior administrative officer of the International Relations Office have been suspended till the completion of the investigation. The KIIT administration has also apologized for the derogatory remarks made by some of its employees and the inconvenience caused to the students.

What is the matter?

Let us tell you that the body of 20-year-old Nepali student Prakriti Lamsal was found in her hostel room on the afternoon of February 16, when the entire institute was celebrating its foundation day. Most of the girl students in the hostel were attending the function, while the deceased was alone. Following the incident, when Nepali students went to see the girl's body and demanded justice, some KIIT staff attacked them and ordered the students to be evicted from the hostels, leading to unrest in the institute.