Pilani is currently experiencing one of its hottest summers, which, coupled with a severe water scarcity crisis, is making living here difficult. In an interview with Pramod Kumar Gautum, an official of the Estate Management Unit (EMU), it was revealed that most of the residents of Pilani are dependent on borewells as their primary water source. Pilani’s location in a ‘dark zone’, which is any area where the groundwater is lower than the average level, only adds to the problem. Seven tankers are currently in constant use to meet the campus’ water demands. Most Bhawans on campus are experiencing problems with the water supply, which range from dysfunctional coolers to scorching tap water throughout the day. The situation was particularly bad during APOGEE as a number of outstation participants were residing on campus premises, further increasing the pressure on existing resources.
BITS has also been facing multiple power cuts for prolonged durations. The English Press Club spoke with officials from the Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB) to get some comments on the same. The RSEB is responsible for regulating and distributing electricity across the state of Rajasthan. Upon facing issues like a sudden surge in demand, the RSEB resorts to ‘load shedding’—the deliberate shutdown of electric power in a part or parts of a power-distribution system—to compensate for the spike. According to the RSEB official, Rajasthan is not the only state that ordered these power cuts. The heatwave and a nationwide depleting coal stock have overburdened the power distribution systems across the country, leading to power outages in twelve to thirteen states. Furthermore, five Thermal Power Units (TPU) have gone ‘out of order’, and coal stocks in all the states facing electricity issues have deteriorated below the critical level of 15%. It was, therefore, a ‘policy decision’ of the Government that there be a forced shutdown.
Dissatisfied with power cuts, an acute water shortage, and the lack of medical facilities on campus, several students gathered outside Rotunda and then proceeded to occupy the main auditorium to raise their concerns to the administration on May 3. Prompted by mass texts over social media channels, these BITSians stayed for about six hours, starting from 6:30 PM, and engaged in said demonstrations.
Events leading up to the protest:
On May 2, the Students’ Union (SU) released a Facebook post which said that they were planning to bring to the attention of the administration concerns regarding the subpar facilities available on campus. They listed a number of problems faced by the students, which included health concerns due to the heat, and unreliable medical facilities and argued that they cannot prepare for the upcoming comprehensive exams due to the aforementioned reasons. They also mentioned that the Rajasthan Government had given directives to all educational institutions to close their campuses due to the heat wave from April 30 to June 1. The SU proposed some solutions to the current situation, including suspension of the ongoing semester along with the conduction of comprehensive exams in an online mode. They also proposed improvements to the facilities on campus, such as putting the hostel power supply on DG backup to fight against the power cuts, insulating the water pipelines, installing solar panels, allowing students to keep coolers in their rooms, and installing air conditioners in common rooms.
The SU approached the Director for a meeting and laid out their concerns on the same day. The Minutes of the Meet (MoM) released stated that the online comprehensive exams as well as suspension of the semester were impossible due to logistical constraints. The Academic-Undergraduate Studies Division (AUGSD) wished to conduct comprehensive exams in the allocated time period, and the Clear Grade option would require calling a Senate hearing, which would further take significant time to arrange. A few short term measures were suggested by the SU as relief for the ongoing problems which consisted of limiting the power cuts to early morning hours, opening up NAB rooms for the students, insulating the water tankers, and providing instant transportation to the nearby Sarvajanik Hospital. The long term relief measures suggested included insulating the entirety of hostel water supply, installing air conditioners in common rooms by the upcoming semester, and providing DG backup to hostel power supply by June.
On May 3, a message began floating on student WhatsApp groups regarding joining a Telegram channel to question the admin about the ongoing issues. No discussion ensued on this platform, which went on to post a message urging students to gather at Rotunda at 6:30 PM on the same day to confront the Director about the lack of action by the Institute to meet the students’ demands.
Protest Coverage/ Timeline of the protest
Several students gathered at Rotunda at 6:30 PM, some agitated along with some who just wanted to see the outcome of the mass texts along with other bystanders who noticed the commotion. Banners could be seen in the hands of numerous BITSians with things such as “I am weak, let me go home” and ”Error 404 Electricity Not Found” written on them. A variety of clamorous chants could be heard all around Rotunda and outside the clocktower. The Chief Warden (CW) along with other professors and assistants arrived at the scene and tried to simmer down the enraged protesters.
Heated arguments went on between the loud crowd of students and the authorities present. Demanding that the Director come up there and address the crowd, they did not budge from their stance despite the persuasion from the authorities. Harsh Lamba, the General Secretary of the Students’ Union said that if the Chief Warden and other authorities can show up in response to so many students, then so can AUGSD. The CW continued to ask them to disperse from the area and assured them that he would get some answers by noon, the next day. Adding that since he got the campus reopened ‘against all odds’, students should trust him to find a solution to their problems. He pleaded that the students give him some time to deal with the situation. When Shukla hinted towards using “pressure politics”, CW strongly exclaimed that he would not give in to pressure. He said that these decisions have to be taken with a few authorities present together and that he cannot make promises or implement anything on his own.
At around 7:40 PM, a section of the protestors, fueled with anger and their dissatisfaction with the authorities’ response, went into the main building and continued to argue with the authorities outside the Main Auditorium. Prof. Navin Singh continued to convince the students to go back to their rooms. Simultaneously, some professors present were having a vehement discussion with the part of the group of students who were outside the building. Despite all the efforts from the professors and other authorities, the protestors were unwilling to move unless they got what they were demanding.
The authorities were served with an “ultimatum” at 8:30 PM from the crowd to get the auditorium opened in the next fifteen to twenty minutes, failing which the protesters would go and sit outside the Director’s house. Some time between 8:50–8:55 PM, the crowd could be seen rushing into the auditorium even though there were guards protecting the gate. Somebody from the crowd claimed that the door was open but back and forth pushing between the crowd and guards created a large push into the auditorium. However, some of the guards present pointed at the scraped lines on top of the door which indicated that the latch had been opened by force according to them.
In hopes of the director coming and addressing the situation at hand, the protestors sat inside the auditorium. People began to leave as word about the doors being opened by force spread in order to not associate themselves with trespassing. A message was being circulated on various common BITSian WhatsApp groups such as the ”BPPC Formal” groups that the Director was on his way to come and address the crowd in the auditorium but the message was a hoax. In the end, the protestors left the auditorium with just the promise that the Chief Warden had made earlier, about waiting till noon on the next day.
Interview with Harsh Shukla
The EPC approached Harsh Shukla, the President of the Students’ Union (SU), to understand his perspective on the protest and the interactions with the administration.
He started by explaining how the scenario in Pilani has rendered the campus uninhabitable. The SU had floated a Google form to gauge public opinion regarding this, which was filled by about 1800 people. Shukla said that over 90% of the respondents found the current conditions on campus uninhabitable, and wanted to return home. Further, he said that 10% of the respondents wanted the upcoming comprehensive examinations to be offline but delayed to June, 20% of them wanted them as per the scheduled timeline, and the remaining 70% wanted them online with Pre-Compre Total (PCT) taken into consideration, CLR grade allotted, or blanket make-ups granted without having to appeal to individual Instructors-in-Charge (ICs). Given this, the SU approached the Chief Warden who directed them to the Director.
Shukla stated that they brought up serious issues like health concerns regarding heat strokes that students are facing before the Director, but that he was ‘apathetic’. Regarding the alternatives to the compres described above, Shukla said, ‘They said that they would look into it but finally, no conclusion was given.’ He said that the AUGSD was set on conducting the compres offline under any circumstances.
Shukla believed that the student body had gotten enraged at the administration after reading the MoM of the SU’s meeting with the Director. At this point, Shukla said that someone in no way affiliated with the SU had floated a Google form regarding organising a protest, which was filled by about 400 people. Over 85% of them were in favour of protesting. Having seen this response, the SU ‘took up the mantle’ and had put out a message asking students to gather in front of the clocktower at 6:30 PM on May 3, 2022, to protest.
Shukla said that the initial turnout was low but about 250–300 students had gathered in front of the clocktower by 7:15 PM. The Chief Warden, the Dean, administration , the wardens of a few hostels, and some professors were also present. He said that they tried to have a meaningful discussion with the Chief Warden who assured them that he would provide a solution by noon the next day, that is, May 4, 2022.
‘We were putting a problem in front of him and his only response was that they are not responsible in any way,’ Shukla said. He elaborated that the administration claimed to have no control over the power cuts or water shortage as they are neither the RSEB nor the Rajasthan government. The SU requested that the Main Auditorium be opened so that the protestors could have a place to sit instead of sitting in the heat. The administration refused. ‘A few of the guards mistreated the people so, you know, the people retaliated and went inside the Auditorium anyway,’ Shukla stated. They asked the administration to turn on the lights in the Auditorium, but this request was declined. He said that the SU then contacted the electrician themselves to turn on the lights, but the administration instructed him not to. This, Shukla said, was ‘in direct contrast to whatever administration has been saying,’ as here the administration was ‘misusing their powers.’
Shukla said that he and other SU members started trying to contact the Director and Chief Warden around noon on May 4, 2022, for a follow-up. The Director did not pick up calls. When the Chief Warden picked up, Shukla reported that he showed no interest in talking to the student representatives and that all communication would be through emails. The Director’s office was closed when the SU went there to meet him at around 1:30 PM. ‘We were sitting outside his office for the better part of an hour.’ Shukla stated. When they eventually got to speak to him, Shukla said that the Director also told them that he was not interested in talking to students, and that he would reply to a formal email regarding this issue by the next morning (May 5, 2022). Seeing the public opinion, Shukla said that the SU chose not to call for further protests as students had to study for the upcoming compres.
‘I think anger is still there in public,’ Shukla stated, ‘the administration’s tyrannical policies have been demystified now at BITS in front of everyone to see,’ Further, he said that the SU was waiting till noon on May 5, 2022, and would be ‘looking at other options’ if the administration provided no solution till then. He concluded by saying that he was impressed by the ingenuity and spontaneity of the students. ‘The BITSian spirit never fails to amaze,’ he said.