The state tech university has begun renting accommodation in the vicinity of the campus to set up WiFi-enabled hostels where students can attend classes over digital platforms, a university official said.

The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), to which all private and government engineering colleges in the state are affiliated, has two hostels on its Haringhata campus, where a section of students of the university’s in-house programmes stay.

Vice-chancellor Saikat Maitra said they now wanted to provide accommodation to as many students as possible so they could attend online classes without any connectivity woes.

A notice from the university’s registrar, Partha Pratim Lahiri, on July 21 said: “It is hereby informed that MAKAUT will be hiring rented accommodation within the vicinity of the university’s main campus for entire requirements like store, hostels and for other purposes which may deem fit.”

An official of MAKAUT said close to 2,000 students were enrolled in in-house programmes — undergraduate and postgraduate courses run directly by the university.

“Of them, about 550 students have been provided hostels. But we have to increase the number of hostels if we are to accommodate more students who are unable to attend classes on digital platforms because of the digital divide,” he said. “Since constructing a hostel will take time, we are renting accommodation.”

VC Maitra said the new hostels would have the WiFi facility.

The hostel infrastructure is being ramped up so that physical distancing could be maintained once students are called back to the campus, following an approval from the government, the VC said.

“The number of students has increased over the years. The Covid pandemic is not going to end anytime soon. So, we have to ensure alternative plans so that studies can go on without disruptions. Before recalling the students, we have to get the infrastructure ready so students can attend online classes maintaining all safety protocols,” he said.

A MAKAUT official said once they set up the infrastructure, they would seek permission to call the students back to the campus. “Many of the students cannot afford data packs because of pandemic-induced economic constraints.”

Last month, the university had waived the hostel, library and laboratory fees for its in-house students till the resumption of in-person classes.

Unstable Net connectivity at home is also a problem for many.

Another official said: “We don’t want any student to avail of public transport while coming to the campus when in-person classes resume because physical distancing norms are hardly maintained in buses. We will deploy our own buses to bring students from the hostels that are being developed.”