The founder of KIIT, Achyuta Samanta, and other top officials of the private engineering college were questioned by a government committee about the alleged suicide of a Nepalese girl in her hostel and the assault on students of her country. The incident sparked outrage in the Odisha Assembly, with opposition members demanding a judicial inquiry. Samanta was questioned for two hours, along with the institute's Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Dean, and two suspended women officials. The committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding the student's suicide, the alleged high-handedness of the institute's administration, and the decision to suspend specific students and shut down the institute for them. The Odisha government has assured Nepalese students that it will cover their travel expenses, arrange remedial classes, and reschedule their mid-semester examinations if necessary.
The school's academic record can be gauged from the fact that 90 per cent of its students clear Class 12 and one even topped last year's National Children's Science Congress.
A tribal student from Odisha left his folks proud after participating in the Malala Day United Nations Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
A little bewildered by the turn of events and the sudden attention on him and one who candidly says he does not know what one lakh means, Majhi, who hails from remote Melaghar village in Kalahandi district, has seen his kitty swell to Rs 15 lakh. But he sorely misses his wife.