IIIT students boycott classes

 Ongole: Students of IIIT Ongole boycotted classes on Tuesday, protested under the Andhra Pradesh Vidyarthi Yuvajana JAC, and demanded that their campus remain in Ongole.

The APVYJAC president, Rayapati Jagadish, argued that Ongole has adequate land, with 50 acres available compared to Nuzvid’s 40 acres.

He emphasised that Ongole offers better infrastructure, including drinking water facilities, accessible teaching faculty, bus and train links, national highways, hospitals, and district administrative offices. As part of the protest, the students warned of a padayatra to the residence of education minister Nara Lokesh if their demands are ignored.

The Ongole Citizens Association has also demanded that MLA Damacharla Janardhana Rao highlight that Triple IT was sanctioned for Prakasam district nine years ago. The association president, Kolla Madhu, expressed concern over relocating the prestigious institution from the well-connected district headquarters to a remote location, citing an earlier incident where a student died due to a lack of nearby emergency medical facilities.

Meanwhile, the Higher Education Department has issued GO No 30 sanctioning 210 teaching and 89 non-teaching posts for IIIT Ongole.