With the preparations for BOSM 2025 in full swing, the BOSM English Press met with Garvit Verma, the Coordinator of the Department of Legacy (also commonly known as the BOSM Legacy Team or BOLT), to discuss their work in the weeks leading up to the fest.

Garvit explained that BOLT carried out most of its work before the fest began, and its primary objective was to reach out to the alumni of BITS Pilani to secure donations and funding for BOSM with the help of the Alumni Relations Division (ARD). He added that they also worked towards enriching the sports facilities on campus, along with arranging talks with the alumni who contribute to the fest.

Garvit further stated that, as BOLT was a relatively new body and a probationary department, there were many expectations that they had to fulfill. Although, he said that BOLT was trying to escape their probationary status, since their two-year probation would end this year. In the past three tenures, they had accumulated Rs. 4.3 lakhs.  Garvit was confident that they would be able to obtain between 50 and 100 percent of their goal of 1L in donations.

Garvit pointed out numerous issues, particularly regarding payment details and transactions. They were unable to conduct foreign payments under FCRA (Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment) because the law in India did not allow the BITS administration to claim those payments. There was also a brief conflict with the ARD, due to a slight misunderstanding with an alum.

He added that he felt there had been a lack of communication between the departments and the Sports Union, which may affect the quality of BOSM this year. According to Garvit, there was a possibility that they would exhaust their database of reputed alumni to approach, and that the number of alumni willing to donate to the fest would decrease. While there was a phase when the institute was not communicating with the BOLT team, Garvit said that he went to the ARD and sorted everything out.

He concluded the interview by divulging how taxing the responsibilities of a coordinator had been on him. He had contacted more than 700 alumni of BITS. Coupled with regular meets and work sessions, he said that it had been a very exhausting experience. However, he added that the work allowed him to ensure the contributions of the alumni were respected.