CHENNAI: IIT Madras has asked its students to vacate hostels in next couple of days as coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in Chennai. However, the students are resisting the move saying they are much safer to stay in the hostels rather than taking a long journey home at this juncture.
In one of the emails, shared with The New Indian Express, Sabarmati Hostel warden Shruti Dubey has requested all students who are enrolled in course-based programs (MSc, M.Tech, B.Tech, DD, MBA) to vacate the hostel within the next 2-3 days. Likewise, all MS/PhD students who have either finished their synopsis and/or have submitted their thesis or do not have any critical academic reasons are also asked to leave.
"For the remaining students who need to stay back for some critical reasons, there is a reapproval process for accommodation that needs to be initiated. Please note that the approval criteria for staying back students is very strict and kindly do not try it unless you and the guide would be able to support the request with strong reasons," the email reads.
The email was sent on Tuesday 4 pm with a form to be filled before 8 pm. "If you don't fill the form, then it is assumed that you will vacate the hostel," the warden said in the email.
Similar communication was sent by wardens of three other boys hostels also. Alankrita Singh, a final year PhD student from the Mechanical Department, told The New Indian Express that the institute was unnecessarily pressuring the students to vacate the hostels. "Few of us are from remote areas. There is no rail or flight connectivity. I am from Chattisgarh. Nearest airport is Raipur and from there my home is 700 km. How can I travel? We are getting multiple calls and emails daily asking us to vacate."
"My guide has written to Dean granting me permission to stay since I am going to submit my synopsis and thesis by the end of this month. However, my professor has not received any response from Dean. It is also disheartening that few students, who do not have a single journal and those who have not even completed their second seminar, were being allowed to stay whereas the ones who are going to be convocated this year are not given permission yet," Alankrita alleged.
Another final year Ph.D student from Computer Science Department, said that his village is near Chitrapur in Uttar Pradesh. "It's about 1,600 km from Chennai. I have to take a flight to Lucknow and then a train to Chitrapur and a bus to my village. Ours is a joint family and has old age people at home. I will be putting myself and them at risk, if I travel now. The institute is not understanding our problem. One student in our hostel 'Bhadra' got infected and all of us were quarantined for 14 days and now we I am being forced to vacate."
Currently, there are 250 students in the campus in four hostels. The campus has 19 hostels and the Chennai Corporation has turned 4 hostels into quarantine facilities for Covid-19 patients. IIT Madras is citing Covid-19 scare as the reason for asking students to vacate, however students say there was enough hostel space available to keep themselves safe.
IIT Madras has not responded to the queries sent by The New Indian Express.