Sikkim University Struggles With Empty Classrooms and Missing Campus

Gangtok: Sikkim University lacks a permanent home nineteen years after its creation. The institution operates out of 22 rented buildings scattered across 17 kilometres in Gangtok. Its administrative hub sits in Samdur. Academic life is a logistical nightmare. Events often stall because departments are separated by huge distances.

Construction at the Yangang site in South Sikkim drags on. The university prospectus still labels the project as being developed. A 2024 institutional audit confirmed the school relies on this hodgepodge of hired buildings, a practice persisting for over 15 years.

Empty seats plague the postgraduate programs. Data from 2026 shows more than 300 of the 840 sanctioned seats remain unfilled. The Anthropology department saw 18 seats go vacant in 2026. The Bhutia department had 18 empty spots, while the Chinese department struggled with 20 vacancies out of 23 seats.

Administrators issued a Special Drive notice on September 4, 2025, to lure students after regular classes began on August 1. It failed to move the needle. These gaps remain stubborn. Observers worry the scattered setup turns students away, especially those weighing multiple offers after CUET-PG admissions.

Three different Vice-Chancellors have cycled through the office. None provided a firm completion timeline for the Yangang project. The Ministry of Education and the UGC now face questions about the institution's future. The university's official literature keeps the same status, noting the campus is "being developed" even as student numbers dwindle.