IIT Kharagpur has called 10 researchers and employees associated with projects back to the campus “depending on the priority of their projects”.

A notice issued late last month says these researchers, who are known as project staff, will come in a phased manner.

As most of their project deadlines are in December, they have been recalled to the campus, which they had vacated in September following a Covid outbreak.

The outbreak had led to the closure of the campus early in September for two weeks.

Each project supervisor had been asked to email the dean of sponsored research and industrial faculty the name of a specific member of the project staff.

“Specific information such as project code, date of completion, and specific urgency on meeting the deliverable was mentioned in the mail to help the institute prepare a priority-based list of those who would be recalled,” an IIT official said.

Before starting for the campus he/she has to undergo medical check-up and an RT-PCR test for Covid-19 as closest as possible to the date of journey and send the test report to the institute.

The terms and conditions says he/she has to undertake the journey from Calcutta airport or the Kharagpur rail station following the protocol advised by the BC Roy Technology Hospital, IIT Kharagpur.

“On reaching the campus, the project staff will immediately report to the hospital on the campus and subsequently follow the standard operating procedure. Based on the health condition, he/she will undergo self-isolation for 14 days or as required in the designated facility,” the official said.

After that the research scholars will get the institute’s approval to occupy the rooms originally assigned to them at the Vikram Sarabhai Residential Complex.

“We are working on a phased entry plan for research scholars,” Tamal Nath, the IIT Kharagpur registrar, said.

“We will soon take stock of the situation and decide on the entry of other research scholars,” Somesh Kumar, the dean of students’ affairs, said.

The Centre had said higher education institutions could reopen from October 15 to research scholars and postgraduate students in technology and science streams requiring laboratory/experimental works.

Considering the inadequate medical facilities in Kharagpur town, the institute has been cautious while recalling researchers, the official said.

Although the Covid chain has been broken following the imposition of the closure, sporadic cases are being reported, he said. “As beds are not available in sufficient numbers, we are being extremely vigilant while letting them in. Earlier, those infected had to be referred to private hospitals in Calcutta.”