History
Plans to establish VIT Bhopal University were announced in 2016 after approvals were granted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. [7] The foundation stone for the campus was laid later that year in Sehore district. [8] Academic operations began in 2017, initially with undergraduate engineering programmes. Over time, the university expanded its academic offerings to include programmes in management, sciences, architecture, and doctoral research.
The establishment of the campus marked the entry of the VIT Group into central India. It also represented an effort to extend the group’s academic model to a new geographic region. [9]
Location and Campus
VIT Bhopal University, is a state private university of Madhya Pradesh situated in Kothri Kalan in Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh, India. [10] [11] The university campus spans around 250 acres. It includes academic buildings, hostels, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities, and common areas for students and staff. [12] The university operates as a residential campus. Most students live on campus, along with faculty and administrative staff, which supports a self-contained academic environment. [13]
Academics
VIT Bhopal University offers academic programmes in engineering, sciences, management, architecture, and allied disciplines. These programmes are delivered at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. [14] The university uses Collaborative and Active Learning Through Technology (CALTECH) and a Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) to facilitate the learning of students. [15] Academic activities are supported by campus facilities, including separate hostels for male and female students, a library, an auditorium, and a cafeteria. The university has classrooms, laboratories, and other infrastructure to support teaching and learning, along with banking facilities and Wi-Fi access across the campus. [16]
Admissions
VIT Bhopal admissions are mostly entrance-based and the university accepts several national-level entrance exams such as MAT, XAT, NATA, etc. in addition to conducting its exam, i.e. VITEEE. [17]
The university offers over 15 programmes through seven schools at UG, PG and doctoral levels in streams such as Advanced Sciences, Languages, Bioengineering, Engineering and Management. Candidates looking for admission to VIT Bhopal can apply online through the official website of the university. The institute accepts several national-level entrance exams, in addition to conducting its own exam viz. VITEEE/VITBEE. [18]
November 2025 Protests
In November 2025, University faced a major jaundice outbreak due to mismanagement and lack of clean water and food. Students allegedly made multiple complaints to management, all of which were ignored. More students kept falling ill. Forced to buy bottled water with their own money, students grew frustrated. When alleged news about 4 deaths of students were spread, one of the confirmed was student Neha Sahukar. [21] Students staged a peaceful protest on 25th November evening. University management quickly squashed it.
The situation exploded when videos surfaced showing management and faculty physically assaulting and mistreating students [22] and taking them away to a secluded Block (Large Dining Hall 2). At 12AM of 26th November, students angered by the abuse and mistreatment (majority of freshers) wore handkerchief masks under hoodies and grouped together outnumbering the guards, breaking out of the gates of their hostels. [23] The students tore apart and destroyed everything they could see, glasses were broken, graffities were drawn citing "Revolution 134", two vehicles belonging to the chancellor, a bus, an ambulance, were burned in the unrest, few guard posts and some rooms in the boys hostel block-1 (belonging to the warden) were broken into and vandalised. The peaceful protest turned riot subsided after police and ABVP intervention and their assurance to hold the management accountable for their gross mismanagement and negligence.
Aftermath
The university officially denied involvement in Neha's death. However, her parents later directly blamed the university and its poor management in an interview. [24] [25] Her medical reports later revealed that a bowel obstruction caused by the contaminated water and food had flared up her dormant TB which then turned into multiple organ failure and her untimely demise.The students now seek better management and basic necessities. [26] The Students further alleged the university is downplaying the numbers and trying to get rid of any accountability. [27]
Students filed FIRs under BNS Sections 191(2), 190, 296A, 115(2), and 351(3) against Asst. Professor Prashant Pandey among other faculties who were seen physically assaulting and manhandling the students in the video which sparked the unrest, management filed FIRs against the students under BNS Sections 190, 191(1), 324(1), and 326(g) for damaging the college properties.
On 28th November, food and water samples were sent to Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department after Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav ordered the formation of a committee to probe into the allegations of poor basic amenities provided by the university. [28] 4 out of 18 water samples sent were found contaminated and unsafe for drinking due to the presence of E.coli bacteria, [29] PHE Department's Executive Engineer Pradeep Saxena confirmed that the presence of such bacteria poses a health risk. Students had reportedly been complaining for several months about illnesses such as jaundice caused by unsafe water, but the university management had ignored these concerns.
Out of the 18 food samples tested, 14 failed the standards required by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) due to presence of pesticides and insecticides, Dinesh Shrivastava Controller of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Madhya Pradesh said "Samples of rice, rajma, maida and others collected from their canteen failed. The results have prompted the department to draft an official notice to the university administration, seeking explanation and immediate rectification measures", the notice once issued will require the institute to address the violations and submit a compliance report within a given period time, failure to do so can lead to penalties, suspension and stricter enforcement actions upon the food services department of the institute.
Samples from 4 out of 5 contracted catering services namely Safal Synergy (Boys hostel block 6,8, Veg & Non-Veg), JMB Caterers (Boys hostel, Veg & Jain), A.B. Caterers (Girls hostel block 1 Veg & Non-Veg) and Rassense Pvt. Ltd. (Boys hostel block 1, Veg & Non-Veg) had failed the standards required by the FSSAI. [30] [31]
Committee Report [32]
The three-member inquiry committee stated in their report that hostel mess services were extremely unsatisfactory, there were no official documented record on how many of the students contracted jaundice. The committee also noted that the campus was turned into a fortress, inside the campus the management have enforced their own rules, no one is allowed to speak about them as if a dictatorship was in place even the Chief Medical & Health Officer of Sehore was made to wait for two hours outside the main gate.
Students informed the committee that they “face the constant threat of harassment if they complain”. “In the name of discipline, their I-cards are confiscated, they are barred from appearing in examinations, threatened with low marks or failure in practical exams,” the report stated, “Complaints regarding food arrangements are not addressed, and students are simply told that they must eat whatever is served,” the committee added. “Anger had been building among students against the fear-based imposed discipline, which the management completely failed to understand,” explaining why the tensions escalated. "Instead of calming the agitation, wardens and guards misbehaved and physically assaulted the students, which further escalated their aggression" leading to riot alike situation.
A show-cause notice to the Chancellor under Section 41(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Private University Act, 2007 was issued demanding an explanation within next 7 days.
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