Hostel Lockout Halts Campus in Sundarbazar, Lamjung
The Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (Lamjung Campus) located in Sundarbazar, Lamjung has been completely shut down for a week due to a student lockout.
Sixty-nine students from the sixth and seventh semesters of the BSc Agriculture program padlocked the campus office from Mangsir 7, demanding that the hostel be opened for both male and female students. Even after eight days of the lockout, the campus has not yet resumed operations.
According to Campus Chief Dr. Ramkumar Shrestha, around 450 students are currently enrolled at the campus, but the hostel facility can accommodate a maximum of only 200 students. At present, only 150 female students are staying in the hostel. He said, “Since we do not have infrastructure that can accommodate all students at once, it is very challenging to manage. We have been providing hostel facilities to students on the basis of merit.”
Three years ago, after disputes and clashes among various student organizations escalated, a decision was made by agreement to allow only female students to stay in the hostel. Now students have launched a movement demanding that hostel facilities be made available to male students as well.
The campus administration has stated that there has not yet been any concrete dialogue on removing the lockout and resuming teaching. Campus Chief Dr. Shrestha informed that although there have been informal discussions, no decisive conclusion has been reached.
Campus sources have stated that, as teaching and administrative work have been completely halted for a continuous week, the academic activities of students have been affected.
Lamjung College News