The students protesting at National Institute of Technology,
Durgapur (NITD) demanding the  resignation of their director, Dr. Tarkeshwar Kumar were in a jubilant mood this afternoon, as rumours of the director agreeing to resign surfaced.

The protests were in response to the  death of a fourth year student, Prosenjit Sarkar who died last week, allegedly due to medical negligence, by the institute’s authorities. Students told PaGaLGuY that they have been told, that both, the director and the doctor in the Medical Unit (who
first checked Prosenjit), would be suspended.

PaGaLGuY however, could not independently confirm the rumours. We  asked Prof. A.K. Bhattacharya, Dean (Student Welfare) to confirm the  rumours. His response was: ” I cannot comment on it as there is no official notice
to that effect.”

It may be recalled that Prosenjit Sarkar, a fourth year
student at NITD died on the night of November 18, allegedly due to medical
negligence. This led to NITD students protesting on campus. They also boycotted their semester
exams en masse, demanding that the director quit.

Concurrently, the students also ran a social
media campaign on Twitter and Facebook, which trended to such an extent that the
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had to take cognisance. A team of
MHRD officials also  visited the campus
on November 24 to enquire into the incident. The report of the team is awaited.

PaGaLGuY broke the story and has been on it ever since. Please read:

Nov 19: NIT Durgapur student dies on campus, Students protest against ‘apathy’ by authorities

Nov 20: NIT Durgapur students hold candlelight march (Updated)

Nov 22: NIT- Durgapur authorities meet protesting students, MHRD Officials to visit on Monday

Nov 25: NITD students appeal to President of India on Twitter

Nov 26: NITD Academics at standstill, students continue to protest

Nov 27: Prosenjit (NITD Student) had no medical issues: Father tells PaGaLGuY

Nov 28: NITD students to go on hunger strike to protest student’s death