IIT Kharagpur has asked students who have yet to vacate their hostels because of inadequate transport to shift to two spacious hostels, where they will stay following physical distancing norms till they vacate the campus.

The boys will be shifted to Madan Mohan Malviya (MMM) Hall of Residence, which has four blocks and can accommodate over 1,600 students. The girls will be lodged at Sister Nivedita (SNV) Hall.

The IIT has 21 hostels, or halls of residence — 16 for boys and five for girls.

Of the 3,200-odd students of the institute, only about 300 are still on the campus. The rest vacated the hostels by June 20 in compliance with a notice issued on June 10.

Some of the 300-odd are from remote areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Jammu.

“They (the students still on the campus) are being brought under two centralised facilities so wardens can ascertain whether physical distancing norms are being enforced,” said an official of the institute.

A mail sent by the dean of students’ affairs, Somesh Kumar, says: “It is noticed that the number of boarders in most halls is very small. In view of the safety and security of the boarders, it is decided that the boarders of all the boys’ halls, should be shifted to MMM hall. Similarly the boarders of all girls’ halls should be shifted to SNV hall.”

One of the students who is still on the campus said it was still not clear whether they would be allowed mess facilities.

“All the mess staff have left. So far we are managing on our own…. It seems we have to continue like this,” he said.