IIT Kharagpur has allowed the entry of research scholars into laboratories, but with restrictions, following a dip in Covid cases on the campus.
The campus remained closed from January 18 to 23 to break the chain of Covid infections and researchers were prevented from accessing the labs. The access was restored on Tuesday, officials at the institute said.
The dean of students’ affairs, Dhrubajyoti Sen, said the number of Covid cases on the campus had come down to 20 from more than 200 around the middle of January.
“The research scholars now can go back to the labs by adhering to certain restrictions. The heads of the departments will decide on the restrictions. Some may decide to call maximum 50 per cent of the scholars at a time. Some may call even fewer scholars. The measures will be decided based on the size of the labs,” Sen said on Thursday.
An engineering department has decided that teachers would ask one scholar each to enter the lab. Those in charge of the labs have been asked to ensure that at least one employee is present in the lab at any point of time.
During the hostel curfew on the campus that was in force from December 31 to January 17, a researcher who wanted to enter his or her lab for a few hours for some urgent work had to write to the warden of the hostel explaining the urgency and keep the supervisor in the loop. If the supervisor gave consent, the warden could allow the scholar to visit the laboratory.
A researcher said they had to pay a heavy price because of the IIT authorities’ acts of indiscretion. He said Covid cases began to be reported on the campus soon after the convocation was held on December 18.
“Then close to 3,000 students were called back to the campus from December 26 to 30. No one bothered to check whether they stayed in an isolation facility,” he said.
Dean Sen denied the allegation that the authorities did not enforce the isolation rule on students returning to the campus.
In late October, IIT Kharagpur had reduced the period of isolation from seven to three days for the students who were being recalled to boost the pace of arrival.
A notice issued by IIT Kharagpur registrar Tamal Nath, which restored the researchers’ access to labs, also said: “All departments/centres/schools/units/sections of the institute will remain open for the faculty/officers and or staff with some restrictions notified from time to time.”
Dean Sen said the allegation that research scholars had to suffer because of the indiscreet planning by the IIT authorities was baseless.