For years, students in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were told that their colleges' affiliation to Pondicherry University — a mainland in...

For years, students in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were told that their colleges' affiliation to Pondicherry University — a mainland institution 1,400 km away — was the root cause of their delayed exam results and degree certificates. The government's fix was to establish the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Institute of Higher Learning (NSCBIHL) in 2024 as a local deemed university, then announce in February 2026 that all seven of the islands' colleges would be absorbed into it from academic year 2025-26. Students were informed of this mid-semester, without prior consultation, via gazette notification. By the time the protests began, students at DBRAIT — the first institution to make the switch — were reporting that their evaluations and marksheets were being delayed by the new institution. The other six colleges brought their own complaints: degrees from a newly established deemed university carry less weight than those from a central university, ST reservation quotas were set to shrink under mainland norms, and fees for new students had already increased. An island-wide bandh was observed. The permanent campus for the new university had no land at all until April 2026 — transferred two months ago — so the institution solving the 'distant affiliation' problem had been running without a campus of its own. Officials said everything would be resolved. Students are still waiting for their marksheets.