A prolonged protest at Mewat Engineering College (Waqf) in Nuh has entered its 40th day, as students and staff continue to press the authorities over inadequate infrastructure, faculty shortages, and pending salary-related demands. The protest has taken a more serious turn with two students staging a hunger strike, putting their health at the center of growing concerns.
“We have been continuously approaching the administration for the past two years, demanding basic facilities, but our grievances have not been addressed. Even after staging a protest, our demand was failed to be addressed, leaving us with no option but to go on a hunger strike,” Arbaz, the protestor on hunger strike, told FoEJ Media.
“We will continue our hunger strike until our demands are met,” he added.
“Classes have not been held for the past four months due to a shortage of faculty, resulting in repeated suspensions. Our examinations are also scheduled to begin next month, in December,” another student on protest said.
“There are no books in the college library, and the institution does not even have access to drinking water,” he added.
“We pay our fees and fulfill all our responsibilities on time, yet we continue to face such problems. We are not even being provided with basic facilities. This is why we are protesting,” a protesting student said.
“Coming here has ruined our lives,” he added.
“The classrooms are in such a poor condition that we do not even feel like sitting in them. The furniture is rusted, and cobwebs are scattered across the classrooms,” another protesting student said.
“I live in the hostel, and monkeys bathe in the hostel’s water tanks. The same water is then used to prepare food in the hostel mess,” hostler and protestor Sajida claimed.
“There is no electricity in the hostel, and there are no proper facilities or suitable spaces for students to use the washrooms,” another hostelor added.
The protesting students further say that the college suffers from dilapidated building, inadequate laboratories, and lack of teaching staff. Their demands include repair of hostels and college vehicles, upgraded laboratories, and solving the issue of shortage of teaching staff.
Further, the protest has also been joined by teachers over alleged irregular salary payments and issues associated with services.
“This situation has not arisen overnight. Not a single official meeting of the governing body has been held since 2018. If meetings are not held, how can the students’ grievances ever be addressed?” guest faculty Mohd Asaruddin said.
The staff have reportedly submitted 14 demands, while students have placed 16 demands before the administration. Protesters say that promises made during discussions are not enough and are seeking written assurance and concrete action.
The issue has now reached the Haryana government, with Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed meeting Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and submitting a list of six demands. These include ensuring regular monthly salaries for college employees, immediately releasing the Dearness Allowance (DA), which has been withheld since 2018, along with arrears, and recruiting an adequate number of teachers.
Er Mamman Khan MLA said, after meeting the protesting students, “I urge the government and the Waqf Board administrator to immediately accept the students’ legitimate demands and take steps to address their grievances. The future and health of young people must not be put at risk. Education, facilities, and dignity are students’ rights, not favors.”
Meantime, MLA DODA, Mejrah Malik said, “I stand in solidarity with the students and employees of Mewat Engineering College (Waqf) who have been struggling for years for their legitimate rights and basic institutional facilities.”
Mewat Engineering College (Waqf), also called MECW, was established in 2010 by the Haryana Waqf Board, Palla Village, Nuh district, Haryana, to expand access to higher technical education in the educationally backward Mewat region.
