Bhubaneswar: Following the death of a Nepalese student at KIIT University, the Odisha government has launched a dedicated International Student Facilitation Cell to support foreign students across universities. The move aims to ensure their safety, address grievances, and provide cultural integration assistance, the state’s higher education department announced Thursday.
The cell aims to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for international students, providing guidance, assistance, cultural integration and grievance redressal, the department said in an official statement.
A helpline (0674-2323403, 0674-2323404) has also been set up for students to seek assistance between 10:30 AM and 5:30 PM on working days, it added.
The move comes in the wake of the alleged suicide of a Nepalese BTech student at KIIT University February 16 and the subsequent uproar over the incident.
The 20-year-old student from the neighbouring country, pursuing a computer science degree, was found dead in her hostel room.
Reports suggest that she had previously lodged a complaint with the university’s International Relations Office (IRO), but it was allegedly not addressed.
PTI