Design by Rohit Reddy
The Dean of Students (DoSt), Prof. Nilesh Vasa, sent a mail on 23rd July 2021 to M.A. and Dual Degree final-years and M.Tech. and M.S. second-years, asking students who are willing to return to campus for research work to fill a form before 5 PM, 24th July 2021.
This has led to a flurry of messages among students, with bits of information being passed around in an unofficial capacity. The Executive Council has put together a document answering frequently asked questions, approved by the DoSt.
One thousand students will be called back over the next two months in batches of 200. The first batch is set to return between 3rd August 2021 and 4th August 2021. Students can return only during the time windows offered by the DoSt Office. If one cannot return to campus in the allotted time window, one can mail the DoST office to get allotted to the next convenient batch.
Upon arrival, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) takes an RT-PCR test of every returning student, who will be quarantined for two weeks. The testing will happen in the hostels, free of cost. Movement outside the hostel during this period is not advised. Male students will be given one of the following quarantine hostels- Pampa, Mahanadi and possibly Cauvery. The hostel allocation for female students is not finalised yet, since there are very few girls hostels at the moment. Food will be delivered to the quarantined students’ rooms, and all of them will be provided with temporary utilities like mugs and buckets to use in this period.
After the quarantine period ends, students will be shifted to a normal hostel and not necessarily their old rooms. Thereafter, they will be assigned messes and mess timings, as mentioned in our earlier article. Students will also be mapped to restrooms. Each restroom will be shared by two students. Students cannot leave campus unless they are vacating or getting vaccinated, but one can avail e-Commerce services like Swiggy and Zomato. The use of sporting facilities, at the moment, is based on a booking system since there are very few students on campus. This may very well continue if there is no spike in COVID-19 positive cases and no change in the GCC guidelines.
After four months, if the situation does not improve, students will be required to vacate their rooms to give way for other batches. If it improves, they may be allowed to stay back whilst other batches are called to return.
Although there is cause for optimism, many questions linger, considering the very short notice that students were given.
Disclaimer: This information is verified by the Students’ General Secretary and the Hostel Affairs Secretary. The information provided is as of today, 24th July 2021, and may change over time.
