Fifty students from the two-year MBA programme at IIM Calcutta have been called to the institute so they can use the internet facility on the campus to attend online classes, said an official of the institute.

The students are being brought in batches since the third week of October and are being put up at hostels. Classes are being held online because of the Covid pandemic.

The demand to bring back students of the two-year programme was raised last month, following the institute’s decision in September to ask all students of the one-year MBA executive programme to return to the campus to tide over the connectivity issues they were facing at home.

A teacher at IIM-C said the MBA programme office spoke to the students and their parents on Google Meet to determine the kind of hassles they were encountering while attending online classes from home.

Students from tier-III cities, who are the worst-hit, are being given preference while making the selection.

The two-year MBA programme has 462 students, compared with 62 in the executive programme.

“During the interaction, commitment was sought from parents that their wards would follow the standard operation procedure on the campus,” a teacher said.

A student due to arrive this week said the institute had prepared a campus entry protocol, that included mandatory testing and quarantine. During the quarantine period, food will be served at the doorstep.

“A student of the MBA executive programme last month had tested positive despite following the protocol. The entire batch had to be quarantined again. So, we are being extra vigilant,” an official said.

Repeated calls to IIM director Anju Seth went unanswered.