Special Correspondent
Ukhrul, September 20:
Manipur’s oldest government college in Ukhrul district has become the centre of a growing education crisis, with students staging a strong democratic protest on Tuesday against prolonged infrastructure delays, severe shortages of teaching and non-teaching staff, inadequate classrooms, poor laboratory facilities and the failure of authorities to act despite repeated appeals.
The protest, organised at the unfinished skeleton of the Academic Block of Pettigrew College at Meizailung, brought together virtually the entire student community, the Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (TKS), the Ukhrul/Hunphun Katamnao Long (HKL), teachers and well-wishers.
Carrying placards and raising slogans such as “Vacant Posts, Broken Future,” “Save Pettigrew College, Save Our Future,” “Enough Neglect, Act Now” and “Pettigrew College—Our Rights, Our Future,” the protesters sought immediate government intervention to rescue an institution that has served generations of students but is now struggling under mounting administrative and infrastructural deficiencies.
The protest has brought renewed attention to the condition of Pettigrew College, established in 1965 as a co-educational institution. After more than six decades of service, it remains the oldest and only government college in Ukhrul district, located at Meizailung, about seven kilometres north of Ukhrul town and roughly 90 kilometres from Imphal.
Eno. Ramreichan Keishing, President of Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong ( TKS) addressing the media at the protest venue, said the college was “under strain” and could no longer be allowed to function under conditions that directly undermine students’ academic future.
According to the data presented by the TKS President, Pettigrew College currently has 12 departments and 1,321 students. Against a minimum requirement of 86 teaching staff, the college has only 45 teachers in position, leaving a reported shortage of 41 teaching personnel. The sanctioned strength itself stands at only 33 posts, with one post being utilised in another college.
The situation is even more acute in the non-teaching sector. Against a requirement of 46 personnel under NEP 2020, only three non-teaching staff members are currently in position, leaving a shortage of 43 personnel.
The shortage has begun to affect routine academic functioning.
The classroom crisis is equally serious. With 12 departments functioning under the National Education Policy pattern, the college requires at least 36 proper classrooms, but has only 10 usable classrooms, each accommodating approximately 30 to 40 students.
As a result, students are reportedly compelled to attend classes in converted spaces, including auditoriums, laboratories, libraries and even garages.
The infrastructure projects meant to address these deficiencies have themselves become symbols of prolonged delay.
A Rs. 14.98-crore Academic Block and Main Gate project, sanctioned through the Manipur Minorities and OBC Economic Development Society (MOBEDS), was awarded to Y. Sunil Singh through a work order issued on December 4, 2021. The stipulated completion period was 18 months, with the deadline falling on June 4, 2023.
More than three years after the scheduled completion date, the building remains unfinished. While RCC and brickwork have progressed, essential works such as doors, windows, flooring, electrical installations and water facilities are reportedly still pending.
Similarly, a Rs. 14.28-crore project for separate 100-bed boys’ and girls’ hostels, sanctioned in May 2022, carried a completion deadline of November 17, 2023. The project, however, remains incomplete.
A third project—the Rs. 76.38-lakh boundary wall and fencing work—was sanctioned with a three-month completion period following the October 21, 2022 work order. Its deadline of January 12, 2023, has also long expired without completion.
For students, the consequences are not merely administrative or statistical—they are immediate and deeply personal, Keishing adds.
Solonchon Luikham, Debate and Extension Secretary of the Students’ Union, said science students were particularly affected by the shortage of laboratory equipment and teaching staff.
“As science students, laboratories are very necessary. We regularly have practical classes, but because the required materials are not provided, we cannot perform them fully,” she said, appealing to the authorities to urgently address the deficiencies.
She also highlighted the shortage of faculty members, saying some departments were functioning with only a handful of teachers despite the much larger requirement.
The absence of a regular librarian and the shortage of updated books have added another layer to the academic difficulties. With the NEP pattern in operation, students require updated learning materials, but library resources have reportedly not kept pace with the changing curriculum.
The classroom shortage, she said, has become particularly severe, with some first-semester students having to attend classes in a garage because there are insufficient classrooms.
During the monsoon, the situation becomes even more difficult, as students have to negotiate muddy and waterlogged surroundings. The shortage of teachers also creates problems when practical examinations and regular classes overlap, she said.
Another student, Blessing Vasha, a fifth-semester English student, said the college lacked proper classrooms and adequate toilet and washroom facilities. Examination conditions were also difficult because of overcrowded and undersized rooms.
She stressed the urgent need for functional boys’ and girls’ hostels, pointing out that student enrolment continues to rise while infrastructure has failed to keep pace.
The students’ concerns are not new. The TKS said it had repeatedly approached the authorities over the past several years, submitting representations to the Education Minister on September 11 and October 3, 2023; to the Chief Minister on October 26, 2023; to the Commissioner of Higher and Technical Education on November 16, 2023; and to the Governor of Manipur on July 18, 2025.
Yet, according to the student body, no decisive intervention has followed.
The TKS has now demanded that the Government of Manipur, the Directorate of University and Higher Education and all concerned implementing agencies immediately inspect the projects, identify the reasons for the delays, clear any pending funds or administrative hurdles and direct the concerned contractor to complete the works within a fixed and publicly accountable timeline.
The students have also demanded urgent recruitment and deployment of teaching and non-teaching personnel, provision of laboratory equipment and updated library books, improvement of transport facilities and immediate completion of classrooms, hostels, toilets and other basic amenities.
The college has only two minibuses, reportedly capable of carrying about 42 students at a time. Students recalled that the Chief Minister had promised an additional college bus during his visit to the institution on October 18, 2023, but the promised vehicle has yet to materialise.
For thousands of young people from Ukhrul and surrounding areas, Pettigrew College remains a crucial gateway to higher education, particularly for families unable to afford education outside the district.
The protest has therefore raised a larger question beyond the condition of one institution: how long can students be expected to bear the cost of administrative delay?
After more than six decades of service, Ramreichan say Pettigrew College needs more than assurances. It needs functioning classrooms, teachers, laboratories, hostels and basic infrastructure—and it needs them now.
