By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The newly established National Institute of Technology (NIT) which started last year is presently housed at Bijni complex, NEHU at Laitumkhrah and is suffering from several deficiencies.
Outstation students who could not find hostel accommodation at the main NEHU campus, Umshing are compelled to stay in rented houses in the city.
Sources from the Institute told The Shillong Times that outstation students of NIT are currently being put up at NEHU hostels at the main campus at Umshing. Others who could not be accommodated are staying in rented houses in Lapalang and Nongthymmai areas.
Though the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal had laid the foundation stone of the NIT Sohra at Saitsohpen in October last year, it seems that students would have to continue living in NEHU campus and rented homes for a few more years till the permanent campus comes up at Sohra.
“Space constraints are there but we are trying to make arrangements as per the availability,” sources from NIT, Shillong said.
The NIT at present has 250 students from all across the country. They commute to Bijni everyday from the NEHU hostel at Umshing using the University bus. “The buses ply at fixed hours, so although we have completed our classes we have to loiter around the Bijni complex either waiting for the bus to arrive or for the other students to complete their classes. We
could have used the time in studying if we had an on-campus hostel,” said a student of the NIT.
Many others have complained about the hostel food. “Quite a few of us are vegetarians but we are unsure if we are served vegetarian food. Sometimes they give us pakoras laden with egg not realising that for most vegetarians, egg is a No No. It could be that the hostel cooks are not used to serving pure vegetarian food,” a student from North India said.
It is learnt that the work at the NIT permanent campus at Sohra is not progressing at the desired pace. Sources say that the architectural design has already been submitted and the Institute has already gone for the tendering process of constructing the boundary walls.
Government sources claim that the permanent campus at Sohra will be constructed in two phases and it will be a state of the art institute.
“If everything goes well, the detailed Project Report (DPR) will be submitted in two months time,” sources said on request of anonymity.
The targeted deadline to complete the campus is 2015 and around of Rs 250 crore has already been sanctioned for the campus.