I am a 2nd year B.Tech student of NITK,Surathkal. Here we see a strong and robust Students' Council as well as good administration that generally listens to 'genuine' student demands. With this hope I appeal to the admin to Re-open the gates and also improve security there!

Recently, many entry-exit gates of National Institute of Technology, Karnataka have been closed including one of the most vital gate: Boys' Hostel Gate. There is no proper explanation to the students from the admin side as to why such an 'unfriendly' step has been taken. The reason why I say the term 'unfriendly' is explained in subsequent points. There are many theories, some say it is security issue, others say something else. I have faced a lot of difficulties after this gate has been closed. 

And not only me, I believe a lot of NITK students are facing the same.
(Note:All distances measured from Fresh and Honest, Boys' side)

• Daily Classes: The closing of two gates namely, boys' hostel gate and small gate in western campus opposite to main gate has made our life miserable. Earlier many of us crossed highway from hostel gate and used to catch a local bus to reach Western campus. Nowadays, the bus service is being provided by college but it is ineffective and practically not feasible. Some day-to-day problems:
  
  1. Bus is full. Given, there is only 1 bus (and a chhota van too :P) to serve 4 departments.
  2. Sometimes quiz or extra class scheduled on timings other than bus-timings.
  
  
• Parcels & e-Commerce deliveries: Being located at outskirts of city, almost everyone prefer online shopping. Also many of students receive parcels. Earlier the place to collect deliveries was just at a stone's throw but nowadays we need to walk more than 900 meters (measured using google maps) unless you order from Amazon (it's delivery is near Co-op, if you don't know)
• Going to Surathkal/Mangalore: Again the same, we need to walk almost a kilometer to catch a bus in front of main gate.
• Daily life: There are various shops of daily needs from departmental store to print-shop just outside the boys' hostel gate. Now, they are almost inaccessible unless we take a long route. The problem increases when there is a long(read: 3-4 days) holiday and in-campus shops are closed! Even for a soap you need to walk or cycle a kilometer.

THE MOST IMPORTANT

Emergency Issues: NITK has more than 250 acre wide campus and a campus having such huge spread should have proper number of entry-exit gates.I don't wish that such emergency situation happen but it may! No one can deny. So, for that purpose the hostel gate is very important as it is one and only gate which can be used for quick exit by almost half of the students. 

THE SECURITY ISSUE

Closing gates in the name of security is insane. Yes! security is required but it is done by having proper security guards, CCTV etc and not shutting gates causing inconvenience to a huge number of students. 

I believe to resolve all these problems the admin should take steps at the earliest. I appeal them to:

• Re-open the hostel gate without any delay. At least provide entry-exit route for people.
• In case there is a security issue, security should be improved.
  
  But for this to happen, we need to voice our problems together and put pressure on the college administration. Please sign my petition so that we can make it happen. We have to spend (on an average) 2 years here from now and we can't suffer this problem silently.

Also share your personal story in comments, if any specific!
I need the support of the NITK janta! ThankYou.
#ReopenTheGate