The IIIT Ranchi student protest entered its third day on Monday as students demanded the resignation of institute director Prof Rajiv Srivastava after the death of a first-year student at the institute’s hostel in Ranchi. The agitation has also brought alleged failures in basic residential services, including power, food, drinking water and transport, to the centre of the dispute.
The student, identified as 20-year-old Aditya Kumar, was found dead in his hostel room at the Khelgaon complex late on Saturday night in what police are investigating as an alleged case of suicide. Students have called for the director to be held accountable and to step down, linking their demand to the conditions in which students are living and studying.
The protest reflects the dependence of residential higher education institutions on campus facilities that function as essential urban services for students. For those living inside the Khelgaon complex, irregular electricity, inadequate drinking water, poor food quality and insufficient transportation are not isolated inconveniences but part of the daily infrastructure of campus life, according to the protesting students.
Students staged a dharna outside the Khelgaon complex gate on Sunday. Board of Governors chairperson Lt Gen (Retd) AK Bhatt, the institute director and faculty members interacted with the protesters during the demonstration. Bhatt sought time to examine the students’ grievances but said the director could not be removed without due process and proper grounds.
The exchange has placed the institute’s internal accountability procedures alongside the students’ immediate demand for action. While the students are seeking a leadership change, the Board of Governors has indicated that any decision on the director would have to follow the applicable process. The source report does not specify the nature of that process or whether an independent review of the hostel complaints has been ordered.
Police personnel were deployed at the protest site to maintain law and order. After a brief pause, students resumed their agitation outside the hostels on Monday evening. The police have registered a case and begun investigating the student’s death.
As part of the investigation, Aditya Kumar’s hostel room has been sealed. Police are also examining CCTV footage connected to efforts to shift him to hospital, according to a police officer quoted in the report. The investigation is expected to establish the sequence of events surrounding the death, while the students’ allegations have opened a separate question about the management and oversight of hostel facilities.
The immediate next steps are the police examination of evidence and the institute’s response to the students’ grievances. Any decision regarding the director will remain subject to the Board of Governors’ stated requirement of due process and proper grounds.
