JnU Correspondent

Students of Jagannath University (JnU) have started a mass hunger strike demanding the transfer of the second campus construction project to the army and arrangements for temporary housing. Thirteen students began their strike at 9:00 am in front of the university's central Shaheed Minar, vowing to continue until their demands are met.

The students are protesting with the following three-point demand:

Hand over the second campus construction project to the army. Arrange temporary housing for students. Provide housing allowances for at least 70% of students until temporary housing is arranged. Ferdous Sheikh, a student from the Management Department (Batch 16), said, "We are sitting here with these three demands, and we will not end this strike until our demands are fully met. For a long time, we have only received assurances from the administration, but no visible progress has been made. This strike is our effort to push for the realization of our demands."

Rashidul Islam, a student from the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism (Batch 14), said, "Initially, 13 of us have joined the hunger strike, but the number of participants is expected to increase. The strike will continue until we receive a satisfactory resolution to our demands."

Background:

Last November, students staged a protest with similar demands, including the handover of the second campus project to the army. The Ministry of Education had assured at the time that there were no obstacles to transferring the project to the army and pledged cooperation in this matter. However, two months have passed without any visible progress, according to the students.

The university administration has sent a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC) requesting the transfer of the project to the army. However, the UGC stated that the matter does not fall under their jurisdiction.