IIT Kharagpur will call some researchers and employees associated with projects back to the campus.

These researchers who are called project staff will be in batches of a few — at the most 10, an institute official said. The institute doesn’t want these staff in large numbers on the campus as it could trigger a health risk, the official said.

A similar situation had led to the closure of the campus early in September.

The supervisor of each project has been asked to email the dean of sponsored research and industrial faculty the name of a specific member of staff from the project.

“Specific information such as project code, date of completion, and specific urgency on meeting the deliverable has to be mentioned in the mail to help the institute prepare a priority-based list on those who would be recalled. The plan is to bring back the first batch of 10 by the third week of October,” the official said.

It has been specified that those researchers and employees must secure accommodation at the Vikram Sarabhai Residential Complex (VSRC).

Project scientists live in the complex.

They have to quarantine themselves for 14 days on reaching the campus, following which they will be allowed entry to the academic area.

“We are allowing entry of project staff in a phased manner. We will then think of allowing other PhD and postgraduate students,” Somesh Kumar, the dean of students’ affairs, told The Telegraph.

The Centre has said higher education institutions can be reopened from October 15 only for research scholars and postgraduate students in technology and science streams requiring laboratory/experimental works.

Each department has been asked to take appropriate action for sanitisation of their laboratories and equipment ahead of the arrival of members of the project staff.

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

Although the number of people infected with the coronavirus has come down on the campus, it is still on the rise in the immediate surroundings. “As beds are not available in adequate numbers, we are concerned if any assembly could lead to another outbreak. Most of those infected had to be referred to private hospitals in Calcutta last month,” the official said.

The BC Roy Technology Hospital on the campus is not equipped to handle Covid patients.

At IIM Calcutta a student of the executive MBA course who was among those allowed on the campus last month to use the institute’s facilities to attend online classes tested positive for the virus on Thursday.

The entire batch has been quarantined again.