Every month, members of the Student Union (SU) congregate to discuss the progress on manifesto points of elected representatives, work that needs to be done for fests, as well as any miscellaneous developments. Any student is free to attend these “Union Council meets” to stay informed about the workings of the SU.
The first meet of the academic year occurred on September 8th. The main topics of discussion were manifesto progress and developments on the institute side. Furthermore, SU Volunteers were informed of the work expected from them.
The meet kicked off with a discussion about the fee hike implemented by the institution this academic year. Since the President, Bharatharatna Puli, and General Secretary, Shivam Jindal, had met with the Director regarding the issue, they began by clarifying some doubts raised by the GBM. ‘There will be a 15% annual fee hike in the coming years. The Director hopes that the fees will stabilize by 2021 – the end of Project Parivartan’, reported Jindal. He justified by stating that as BITS is a private institute, it receives no funding from the government. Hence, to stay competitive with the top-tier IITs, it is necessary for the cost to be passed on to the students. ‘PhD scholars require funding for their research, research that directly affects the reputation of the institute. There have been cases of these students losing funding halfway through their work which is unacceptable’, added Jindal.
To alleviate some of the worries regarding insects in hostels, Puli stated that he is working with the institute to install “insect blockers” in VK and Mal-A which will tentatively be done in the coming two weeks. The institute wants to wait for renovation to be completed before implementing this in hostels such as Vyas and Shankar. As a temporary solution, rubber strips will be installed around doors of these old hostels to prevent insects from entering the rooms.
Regarding his manifesto point of workshops and seminars on the Internet of Things, Jindal said that he was in contact with a company which he hopes will send a representative in the coming month to conduct a seminar. Puli stated his rental cycle program had been approved by the Chief Warden and the Student Welfare Division and that the service would start in a week’s time. He mentioned that he had received permission from the Software Development and Educational Technology (SDET) unit manager to begin work on revamping the outdated software and academic portals in use by the institute. ‘The SU technical team will have finished work on a few portals in a month’, he added.
After the floor was thrown open for questions, a member of the GBM enquired why mess signings couldn’t take place to expedite installation of insect blockers in the hostels. ‘It is the institute’s responsibility to provide basic functionality in the rooms. We don’t charge students extra for beds and curtain rods. One may purchase an insect blocker from Connaught and install it with the help of the respective hostel’s chowki if it is urgent’, countered Puli.
Interested readers may read the EPC articles pertaining to the Fee Hike and Project Parivartan for further details.