In a first, IIT-Kgp gets dean of ‘hall management’ to address hostel issues

Kolkata: In a first, IIT Kharagpur introduced a new position, Dean of Hall Management, to address student requirements in hostels such as food and maintenance more promptly and effectively so that lifestyle of students are enhanced. Physics professor Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava, who was the chairman of the Hall Management Centre (HMC), has been appointed as the dean of hall management.IIT Kharagpur has 21 hostels accommodating more than 16,000 students.Director Suman Chakraborty said, "This is the first time in the history of IIT that a position of dean of hall management has been created to address students' issues and requirements regarding hostel in an effective and prompt manner. Previously, the HMC chairman had powers equivalent to a dean on paper, but in practice, they lacked the same administrative authority and social recognition within the student community. After a long discussion, I realized the only way forward was to officially give the "dean" designation. This will allow hall management issues to be handled independently without being slowed down by the need for approvals from other deans. We are trying to be as student-centric as possible to improve well-being of students so that unfortunate incidents can be prevented."IIT Kharagpur is also the first among the IITs to appoint a dean of student well-being to give special emphasis on welfare activities for students.There has been a long-standing grievance among students about the quality of mess food, lack of maintenance of hostel buildings, and sanitary equipment. "The quality of food served at the mess is very poor. Even after lodging complaints that washing machines are not working, they were not repaired. The sanitary equipment and hostel amenities are not maintained properly," said a student, adding, "We are hopeful that things will get better and streamlined with the dean of hall management position being introduced."Srivastava told TOI that his priorities will be to restructure the mess, improve the quality of food and streamline the maintenance work in order to enhance the lifestyle of students. "As HMC chairman, I was facing difficulty in mess and maintenance related work. But now I am part of the main administration and have power. My first priority is to restructure the mess and improve the quality of food. We have a bad reputation when it comes to our mess food. My second priority will be to secure funds for the maintenance work so that it can be carried out in a prompt and effective manner. The intention is to enhance the lifestyle of students and run the system properly."IIT Kharagpur witnessed back-to-back suicides - on April 18, third-year engineering student Jayveersinh Dodiya died after reportedly falling from the eighth-floor terrace of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of Residence and on April 28, Soham Halder, a fourth-year student was found hanging in his room at Madan Mohan Malviya hall.