NIT Rourkela students stage protest suspecting offline exams

Following a cluster outbreak of COVID-19 cases, NIT-R suspended physical classes for the third time in January this year.

NIT Rourkela Semester Exams 2022: Hundreds of students staged protests in front of the Academic Building of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela demanding online exams for the upcoming semester. The protest took place a day before the resumption of physical classes in NIT-R after the third COVID-19 wave.

Students not ready for offline exams

Stating that the institute would soon expect students to sit for offline exams after welcoming them back into the campus, they claimed that they are not ready for the same. Spring and end-semester examinations are due by the third week of April.

Discussion between NIT-R authority and students remain inconclusive

Hundreds of students from different hostels staged agitation at the main gate of the Academic Building for nearly three hours. Following the protest, the authorities of the institute called some representatives of the agitating students for discussion with NIT-R Director Professor K Umamaheswar Rao. Sources said the discussion remained inconclusive and another round of discussion was supposed to take place on Wednesday evening.  

According to various media reports, the protest at NIT Rourkela demanding online exams buds from the protest staged by students of IIT-Kharagpur on Monday over the same issue. Following the protest, IIT-KGP Director gave students the option of appearing for semester exams via both offline and online mode.

Meanwhile, in-charge registrar Professor Rohan Dhiman said the student did not stage any agitation but came for discussion with request for holding online examinations. The authorities would take an appropriate decision in this regard after considering every aspect.  

Following a cluster outbreak of COVID-19 cases, NIT-R suspended physical classes for the third time in January this year. Since the pandemic situation has eased now, students have been asked to return to the campus for offline classes except those in the first year. 

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