IIT-Madras forces students to vacate hostels during lockdown – Times of India

IIT-Madras (File photo)

CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is forcing around 300 students who stayed back in the campus following the lockdown in March to vacate their hostel rooms within two to three days. The students, who are from remote corners of the country, said they are safer inside the campus than travelling home during the pandemic.
“All students who are enrolled in course-based programmes (MSc, MTech, BTech, DD, MBA) have to vacate from the hostel as soon as possible (within the next 2-3 days). All MS/PhD students who have either finished their synopsis or have submitted thesis or do not have any critical (interpreted very strictly) academic reasons will have to leave in the next 2 to 3 days,” a circular from one of the hostel wardens to students said. “If you don’t fill the form, then it’s assumed that you will vacate the hostel. In that case, please inform us of your date of leaving the campus,” the circular further added.
The students hail from Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other parts of the country.
Sources inside IIT-M said two students and two faculty members have tested Covid-19 positive in the past few days and the institute has decided to send the students homes.
“The move is heartless and puts us under enormous mental stress,” said one of the students. “The Covid-19 cases were reported in labs where project staff from outside the campus work. Hostelers were not allowed to go outside the campus in past three months.”
A student from Madhya Pradesh said they were already under a lot of stress due to the pandemic. “We have to travel more than 1,500km. I have to find transport from airport to my native, more than 300km away, which is not possible during this crisis. We are safer here,” the student said.
Another student stated that states like Chhattisgarh have strict quarantine rules where returnees have to be under institutional quarantine for 28 days, while Arunachal Pradesh stopped issuing e-passes to enter the state. “Other IITs are taking care of their students. IIT-M, supposed to be the top IIT, is abandoning them in the time of crisis,” a research scholar said, adding that students under 14-day quarantine also have been asked to inform the date of vacating their rooms.
When asked for comment, IIT Madras did not respond.