Around 400 students of IIT Kharagpur have stayed back on the campus after the institute asked stranded students and researchers to go home by June 20, authorities of the establishment said on Thursday.
Most of the remaining students, both from undergraduate and postgraduate courses, hail from faraway places and have been housed in two hostels, they said.
"They are our children. If they have some difficulty in shifting immediately, we cannot force them. But since the next semester is more than two months away, there will be little academic activity for them," IIT Kharagpur Registrar BN Singh told PTI.
"Hence, we had urged the students to leave the campus, reunite with their families and come back in September with afresh mind," he added.
Of the 2,400 students and researchers who were on the campus 15 days ago, 2,000 have left for their homes as the institute arranged transport facilities for them till certain locations, Mr Singh said.
The remaining 400 students have been housed in the two hostels in adherence to social distancing norms, he said. "Slowly, they are also moving out. But if they face difficulties in shifting, we will not force them," Mr Singh said.
The mess staff members have already left for their homes and the students have to manage things on their own with support from the institute authorities.
Of the total 12,500 hostel boarders, 5,400 were on the campus when the lockdown was imposed in March-end. Of them,3,000 were transported to their homes in May and 2,400 had stayed back on the campus.
The 2019-20 academic session of the institute has ended and all academic activities were over by mid-June.
