Aditi Pandey, the StuCCAn of the Department of Publications and Correspondence, was difficult to find given her hectic work schedule. However, she provided insight into the working of the department in a conversation over text.

PCr has always been involved in niche areas of work. Their responsibility lies broadly in five areas – Participation, Reprography, Design, management of Oasis snaps, and inventory distribution. Design includes the designing of Oasis snaps, souvenirs, StuCCA and coordinator ID cards, access passes, event schedule booklets, and event posters. In Reprography, the department takes care of the printing needs of all clubs and departments, that includes judge sheets and certificates. Perhaps their most important task is Participation. They are responsible for ensuring a high outstation participation. Most of the department’s work happens before the fest; deadlines have largely been met and work is going according to timeline.

Historically, the distribution of Oasis snaps has been an issue – students received their fest snaps several months later, often in subsequent semesters. To try and distribute the snaps and souvenirs in the same semester, PCr has collaborated with DVM and have incorporated a new photo-tagging software to speed up the process.

Oasis clashes with three other major college fests, and thus effective publicity for Oasis is of paramount importance. Retention of participants from previous editions of Oasis has also been an issue – complaints about the quality of judges and distribution of prize money have remained unresolved. Limited accommodation for girls has also affected female participation for Oasis. Since the last semester, PCr has been in involved in large scale damage control. The department’s Oasis trip to Delhi – where members personally bond with the heads of other colleges – has proven to be invaluable for their publicity drive.

As a StuCCAn, the pressure of responsibility has been immense, mentioned Aditi. She believed that there was a great deal of learning and personal development associated with the task. She valued the leadership and management skills she has gained in her tenure, and was pleased with the way things have panned out. ‘We hope we live up to your expectations. Do try to sleep as less as possible and help us make Oasis successful,’ mentioned Aditi. She hopes that BITSians will make full use of the immense amount of effort put into Oasis – several activities, events, visuals, free and paid prof shows, talks and other learning opportunities have been lined up.