Each final-year postgraduate student of NIT Durgapur being called back to the campus will have a room to himself or herself at the hostel to minimise chances of Covid infection.
In the pre-pandemic times, each room would be shared by two or more students.
Since the one-room-for-each-student arrangement has to be made for final-year BTech students as well, the institute will recall them only after the postgraduate students leave the campus.
A notice signed by the dean of students, Rajat Mahapatra, says: “….all willing PG final-year students who have been vaccinated at least 1st dose for COVID 19 will be allowed to come to the institute/hostel from November 15th, 2021 to 31st December 2021….”
UGC guidelines on Covid safety in regard to reopening of hostels say: “Sharing of rooms may not be allowed in hostels.... There should be no crowding in hostel areas.... Hence, their numbers need to be limited appropriately to avoid crowding...students should be called in phases.”
Mahapatra said 400-odd final-year MSc and MTech students were being recalled because they needed to attend project work, for which they need access to laboratories.
An official of the institute said once these students were through with their project work, they would leave the campus, enabling the final-year BTech students to return to the campus in the even semester in January.
“The fourth-year BTech students are also required to work on certain projects. But if they are to be recalled, we have to give them single-room accommodation. This can be possible only after the postgraduate students vacate the hostels,” he said.
The belongings of BTech third-year students who had to leave the campus in March 2020, following the outbreak of Covid-19, are lying in some of the rooms.
“So we have to make do with the available resources and recall students in batches,” he said.
The toilets, which will be shared by multiple students, will be sanitised twice or thrice a day.
The institute is in the process of widening the dining area so that physical distancing can be maintained while eating.
“Hostels may restrict the number of students in dining halls at any point in time. More messes will be reopened to avoid overcrowding,” said an NIT Durgapur official.