KIIT University incident has brought shame to Odisha; undue favours shown during BJD’s term: Former Odisha Chief Secy

The recent incident of mistreatment of Nepalese students following the death of a girl on KIIT University campus in Bhubaneswar has brought shame to Odisha, said former Odisha Chief Secretary Bijay Patnaik on Saturday.

While speaking to reporters, Patnaik said several allegations of land scams were levelled against KIIT during his term as the Chief Secretary and case was registered in estate court. Directions were issued to take action as per the law, he said.

“Whatever happened at KIIT University, it has brought shame to Odisha at the global stage. The way unwanted and demeaning statements were made at Nepal’s GDP is unfortunate and shows that racism is going on there. In coming days, foreign students will think before taking admission in any educational institute or university in Odisha,” said the former retired bureaucrat.

Also Read: KIIT founder and former BJD MP Achyuta Samanta grilled for over 2 hours by high-level committee over girl student’s death

Patnaik further said that not only Odisha government, but also the Government of India and the UGC should serve a show-cause notice to KIIT whether deemed university status will be given or not. An empowered committee should be set up at Odisha Governor’s office so that any foreign student can lodge their grievances when it is related to their safety, he said.

A Call for BJP Government’s Intervention:

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now in power, Patnaik urged them to take resolute action against KIIT for their alleged misconduct. It is time for the BJP to show they can govern differently than the BJD, particularly concerning university governance, said Patnaik.

Potential Impact on Education Sector

These allegations raise broader concerns about the impact on Odisha’s educational sector, with fears that such controversies might alarm prospective international students. As of now, there has been no comment from the BJD or KIIT’s founder and former BJD MP Achyuta Samanta on Patnaik's allegations or the demanded actions.

Also Read: Fresh cases of ‘illegal land acquisition by KIIT University’ come to the fore

According to Patnaik, everybody knows that the founder of KIIT University Achyuta Samanta had won elections and elected as MP from BJD. The then BJD government had shown undue favours towards Samanta and there is no need of any evidence. 

The new BJP government needs to prove that they are different. If the things that used to happen during the previous government continue, people will say that no change has taken place. 

“It remains to be seen what steps are being taken by the new Odisha government over the several allegations like forest land grabbing and other issues. Only a detailed investigation can reveal where there has been deviation of the laws and favours were granted to the institute... Everything should be brought under the purview of law if there is any deviation,” Patnaik added.

The former Odisha Chief Secretary said that the high-power committee constituted by the Odisha government should see as to who had taken the decision to evict only Nepalese students from the KIIT campus and what action was taken in this regard.

Apart from this, if the deceased Nepali girl student had alleged that she was being harassed but no action was taken on her grievances, the concerned official should be held accountable. The concerned staff/ official should be brought under the purview of criminal investigation, he added.