The containment zone set up around four hostels on the IIM Calcutta campus has been lifted and students staying at the hostels are free to go home, said an official of the Joka business school.
When the containment zone was set up earlier this month, only students of the two hostels that were not part of the zone were allowed to leave.
A section of the students is staying on the campus to attend online classes from the Wifi-enabled hostel.
The Bengal government has extended the closure of campuses till January 31 and has mandated that classes be held online as a precaution against Covid.
Those who are staying back have been asked not to venture out without a pressing need, said an IIM official.
And in case of a pressing need, a student has to write to the authorities, explaining the reasons for stepping out and listing the places he or she will visit.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation had on January 5 set up the containment zone as over 50 students tested positive at Tata Hall, Ramanujan Hostel, Lake View Hostel and New Hostel.
Manish Thakur, chairperson of the IIM-C’s Covid task force, said the zone was dissolved last week and the students of the four hostels were free to go home.
An IIM official said they had on January 4 readied an order asking students to vacate hostels but the civic body announced the setting up of the containment zone.
The number of Covid cases on the campus during the renewed surge crossed 100 and has since come down to 13, said Thakur.
“The inter-hall movements are being allowed. But we have asked students who are staying back to follow the physical distancing norms and other safety protocols. They must not venture outside the campus until and unless there is a pressing need like getting the laptops repaired, medical emergencies,” Thakur told The Telegraph.
Sources on the campus said that students were being dissuaded from venturing out as many on the campus attributed the present upsurge on the campus to the students frequently venturing out in crowded places as part of the Christmas and New Year celebration.
“When the students in April had been asked to vacate the hostels during the second wave, that time spike of cases on the campus was attributed to students venturing out to celebrate Holi festival. Now, it is being blamed on Christmas. So students are being asked not to go out of the campus,” said an IIM-official.
“The students have to seek an approval from the institute authorities if they want to go out,” said Thakur.
A member of the task force said the students had been advised to head for home because if more travel restrictions were imposed in the coming days, it would be inconvenient for them to reach home.
“Parents are also getting worried as our students come from all over the country,” he said.