The first Union Council (UC) meet of the current semester began on the evening of November 11 with a roll call by the Election Commission. The topics of discussion ranged from hostel issues to the formation of new clubs. Once quorum was established, the Hostel Representatives took the floor to talk about issues pertaining to their respective hostels.
Hostel Issues
Issues about lighting, temperature of water coolers, vending machines, and other inconveniences were brought up. These general concerns were heard out by the Student’s Union (SU) and noted down to ensure that they were fixed.
Televisions and Common Room Facilities
The Ashok representative reported that their table tennis nets were stolen, and the Gandhi and RP representatives reported that TV remotes were stolen. The RP TV was reported to be damaged, and the representative said that he tried taking it up with the Institute. However, they had responded saying that it was broken by someone throwing a beer bottle at it, and would not be repaired as was likely to recur. The General Secretary said that while replacing the remotes was a trivial task and would be taken care of, something would be done about the broken TV. An idea to install CCTV cameras in the common rooms to prevent vandalism was discussed in brief. The General Secretary added that they can easily be covered during fests to ensure privacy for out-station participants.
Vending Machines
On multiple hostels mentioning various issues with the vending machines, the General Secretary said that the Paytm stickers were removed because of connectivity issues across campus leading to numerous failed transactions. Vendiman said that they could bring back Paytm if WiFi access was provided, but the WiFi constantly times out due to the new Sophos security system, so this was also deemed infeasible.
SR Superintendent and Chowki
The SR Bhawan representatives had complaints about how the Superintendent and Chowki were perpetually absent, and how, sometimes, they had no one to go to for complaints and help. The General Secretary took note of this and said that they would work on a system that could be added to the SU app and portal where complaints can be lodged directly.
Meera Bhawan
According to the Meera Bhawan representatives, Meera Redi was noticeably over-priced in comparison to other redis, and the quality of food and hygiene was also reported to be substandard. The General Secretary asked if a new redi was needed, to which the representatives replied that only regular checks and monitoring were required. The General Secretary added that an Inspection and Monitoring Committee has been set up for this very purpose. The other complaint was with the ongoing construction of the third and fourth blocks in Meera. The representatives urged that the timings for the construction be reduced, especially since exams were impending and several girls reported discomfort due to the constant construction noises. The General Secretary mentioned that the construction operations are under project Parivartan, and consequently do not come under the direct control of the Institute, but are instead managed by the Birla Trust. However, he promised to do whatever he could to fix the issue.
Gym Equipment
The new gym equipment at the hostels was also discussed in the meeting. Shankar, VK, SR, Meera, and CVR were selected for the trial run. The Hostel Representatives of these bhawans unanimously agreed that the equipment was not being maintained properly. They also said that most students weren’t using it because they went to the gym anyway, and others resorted to walking or cycling for exercise. The council concluded that machines should not be discontinued, but should be maintained regularly. Their reasoning was two-fold—the gym is usually crowded, and people get less exercise in winters as it is too cold outside.
New Clubs
The meet progressed to pitches for new clubs and semesterly reports by the clubs on probation. Two comedy clubs were proposed, one by a group of first-year students, and another by a group of second-year students. A new Hacking Club was also pitched, but the audience appeared to find its conception rather lackluster. The last pitch was for a Karaoke Club. Communo, the public speaking venture, and FitBITS, a club that frequently organized runs and other athletic events, provided the UC with a report of their activities over the semester.
Comedy Club and Karaoke club were put on probation.
The Comedy Club by the first years and the Karaoke Club were put on probation after a vote by the UC. The UC also gave Communo a go-ahead to serve out their last semester on probation and voted to formally induct FitBITS as an SU club. As the voting concluded, the meeting was adjourned.