C T Online Desk: Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Adviser Nahid Islam has promised that the government will meet the demands of Jagannath University (JnU) students within three days.
He made the commitment in front of protesting JnU students near the Secretariat on Monday afternoon.
Nahid said: “The students of JnU face many difficulties. They have no dormitories. Their demand for a second campus is completely justified, and I fully agree with their demands.
“We may not be able to establish dormitories within three days, but we can hand over the second campus construction to the army. We need to have discussions about this.”
He further said: “Within three days, we will transfer the new campus construction to the army.”
In response, the students said they are giving the authorities three working days and also expect a decision on the UGC’s HEAT (Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation) Project by Monday.
They insisted that the education adviser should come and provide a final decision on the matter.
The students’ demands are as follows:
- The project director appointed during the Awami League era must be held accountable, and the project must be handed over to skilled army officers within seven days.
- The Ministry of Education must officially announce, with a clear outline, that the second campus project has been handed over to the army.
- Immediate steps should be taken to acquire the remaining 11 acres of land, and all agreements made during the autocratic government regarding the old campus must be cancelled.
- JnU must be included in the UGC’s recently announced pilot project.
- The university’s annual budget allocation must be a minimum of Tk500 crore.
