IIM Calcutta has asked students of its two-year MBA programme and one-year MBA executive programme to vacate hostels “due to developing Covid-19 situation in the country and Calcutta”.

The arrival of the second batch of students of PGPEx-VLM programme that entails a four-month stay on the campus starting from April, has been deferred till further orders.

Students of the one-year MBA executive programme and the second-year students of the two-year MBA programme have left the hostels on April 10 and 11 respectively after completing their exams.

The students usually stay at the hostels for a period of 10 to15 days after the exams.

A notice issued by the institute’s chief administrative officer, Alok Chandra, says that the first-year students of the two-year MBA programme must vacate the hostels by April 18 — a day after their exam gets over.

As many as 70 students of IIM Calcutta have tested positive till Monday, said an official of the institute. “The students, who are quarantined (at a special facility on the campus), would return home once they recover after serving the isolation period. They are stable. We have decided to get the hotels vacated so that the others don’t come in contact with the affected ones.”

Another official said the sanitisation drive was a must before the fresh batch of students returned to the campus from June after summer recess. “So, we have to sanitise the facilities,’’ said a member of the campus’s Covid task force committee.

Although classes are being held online because of the pandemic, students had been brought back last year in phases so they could use the institute’s Internet to attend academic proceedings.

The one-year postgraduate programme for executives for visionary leadership in manufacturing (PGPEx-VLM) full time residential program is conducted jointly by IIM-Calcutta, IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras.