GKCIET Students Resort to Protests Over Non-Delivery of Admit Cards Ahead of BTech Semester Exams

Malda, 24 April: A section of students at the Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering & Technology (GKCIET) in Malda resorted to protests on Monday over alleged non-delivery of admit cards for their BTech semester exams just a day before the scheduled exams.

Around 350 students from various engineering disciplines will appear in the BTech second, fourth, sixth, and eighth semester exams starting Tuesday. However, 37 students from mechanical and civil engineering streams did not receive their admit cards until Monday evening.

The agitating students, mostly from mechanical and civil engineering, conducted a sit-in demonstration outside the district magistrate's office on Monday morning and resumed a hunger strike in the evening. They claimed to be victims of "technical fault" and expressed concerns that they would face difficulties if they did not receive their admit cards, which they had already secured placements from private companies.

GKCIET authorities attributed the delay to lower attendance than the stipulated percentage in some departments. However, the students denied this explanation, insisting that the issue was not their responsibility and that technical glitches were not their fault.

Institute Dean (Academics) Kshirod Kumar Dash acknowledged that there were issues with uploading student forms but claimed that efforts are being made to resolve the problem. The university to which GKCIET is affiliated, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), has been informed.

District administration officials have received written appeals from the protesting students and are exploring options to address the issue. Local faculty members expressed sympathy with the agitating students, highlighting that some candidates were already job-bound and would lose their placement opportunities if they failed to clear their semesters.