A section of the agitating students of Presidency University here began indefinite hunger strike from Monday night demanding immediate accommodation in the under renovation Hindu hostel.
Altogether 50 students have been on a sit-in demonstration at the university campus since August 3 and eight have started the indefinite fast.
"The fast began at the campus portico from 9 pm and it will continue till the authorities take initiative to shift the 50 students to two blocks of Hindu hostel immediately," Ujan, one of the agitating students, told PTI after a general body meeting of students in the campus.
When contacted, a university spokesman said, "We have already explained the situation to the students. We had promised them that the Hindu Hostel can be thrown open to them only after PWD declares it fit for use after renovation. We can only hope they will understand the situation."
Ayan Chakraborty, an activist of students' body Independent Consolidation (IC), said a part of the corridor of the university building has been turned into a makeshift hostel during past two months and a number of students fell sick staying in open verandah.
He said the students were now being forced to go for fast in the coming festive season as there had been no communication with Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia or any university official on the issue in the last couple of days.
The students were claiming that renovation in two of the six blocks of the Hindu Hostel building has already been completed and they should be accommodated in these two blocks.
The Hindu Hostel, adjoining the College Street institution, had been shut down for repairs on July 29, 2015 and 150 boarders were shifted to a rented accommodation at New Town.
The authorities had last year assured the students that all the six blocks of the hostel would be opened for the boarders after completion of renovation work by the first week of August this year.
The Convocation of the Presidency University on September 11 was shifted outside the campus in the wake of the agitation.
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