Cusat to be under the eyes of CCTV cameras

Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) students, it’s time to be cautious. You are bound to be watched 24x7. In an effort to ensure security on the campus spread across 183 acres, Cusat authorities are set to install CCTV cameras at the main gates and other important locations to keep surveillance over it. The project is being implemented as part of the e-governance project of the varsity.

“With no proper compound wall at various places, the Cusat campus is not very secure. Once the cameras are installed, we can monitor the movement of people and vehicles on the campus. It has also come to our notice that many people are dumping waste on the deserted parts of the campus. KELTRON will be installing the surveillance system,” said Cusat Registrar A Ramachandran.

Biometric punching for teaching and non-teaching staff and digitisation of all offices are two other major initiatives under the e- governance project.

“The biometric system will  ensure that the staff complies with the office schedule. Keltron has almost completed installing the system,” said the Registrar.

The university authorities expect that the biometric attendance system will improve the efficiency of the university by over 15 per cent by ensuring the presence of workforce during office hours.

The e-governance project is being implemented in five universities in the state at a cost of `5 crore for each university.

After digitisation is completed, the administration, examination, finance and admission wings will become paperless. The entire work will be completed within one-and-a-half years. Cusat has more than 500 teaching staff, including those on contract and 800 non-teaching staff.

Work on computerising the examination wing is on while the e-projects related to administration and finance are in the tendering stage.

“The admission process is now managed by National Informatics Centre and it has to be integrated into other systems in a network. The administration will switch to digital filing system and a financial information system will also come into being. Services can be delivered without wasting time on paper work and information can be availed of from anywhere on the network,” said Ramachandran.