The first Union Council (UC) meet of the semester took place at the SAC Amphitheater on 31st January. A broad range of points was addressed, including merchandise delays, hostel issues, and reports by both new and old clubs.
The meeting kicked off with a headcount by an Election Commission (EC) representative, after which hostel representatives put forward the issues faced in their hostels. Fixing the QT lights as well as installing vending machines and mats for water coolers (to prevent the accumulation of mud) was a common request put forward by the RP, Ashok, Mal C, MSA, Shankar, and SR (C&D) Hostel Representatives (H-Reps). The SR (A&B) H-Rep suggested that CCTV cameras be installed in the hostel as drunken seniors had frequently visited and caused disruption. The Day Scholars’ representative requested a card facility to be installed at the pitstop in RPA mess, as paying by cash is highly inconvenient for the day scholars. The Budh representative raised complaints against the Estate Management Unit, which had been stalling the promise of installing hooks for clothing lines in rooms for over two months. The SR (C&D) representative put forward the issue of dogs vandalizing dustbins and conveyed the need for streetlights en route from the hostel to the library and mess. Dustbins being left out for days was a concern raised by the Shankar representative. The Meera H-Rep reported no issues.
A major issue discussed in the meet was the course of action to be taken against organizations causing major delays in the delivery of orders. One such club, Communo, had held joint signings with the Instrumentation Forum before it had been made a formal club. The signings were held before last semester’s comprehensive examinations, but the orders still hadn’t been delivered. This led to the talk of instituting a penalty fee for the departments/clubs causing a major delay in delivery of merchandise; however, no such measure was formalized.
The Union Council went on to review two clubs—Media Relations Club (MRC) and FreeLunch. The representatives of MRC took the floor first and went on to explain their purpose—to connect the campus with the outside world. Their future plans included organizing independent events, maintaining a social media presence, holding entrepreneur interviews, and releasing videos.
The next club to present a report was FreeLunch. The representatives explained the club’s goal of establishing a community of well-read students in BITS, which they plan to achieve by releasing regular online editorials and print issues. They listed the range of topics they write on—economics, science, major activities worldwide—and discussed their schedule of releasing issues: approximately two articles a week. The UC questioned the club about its relationship with clubs such as Wall Street and the Economics and Finance Association, which possess much more knowledge in domains such as economics and finance. The club replied claiming that writing is a different skill altogether and that they would be open to working with these clubs in the future.
A vote was carried out in the presence of the EC representative, to review their performances and decide whether the clubs were to be formalized under the SU. MRC didn’t pass the vote and hence continued to remain on probation. FreeLunch passed the vote—its first performance review—and will continue to function under supervision till the next vote takes place. If FreeLunch passes the next two votes, it will be formally instated as a club under the Students’ Union.
The President informed the Union Council of the work to be dealt with this semester. He notified them about the Nescafé inauguration, which was planned for the 8th of February, with card facilities to be introduced soon after. Extension of GymG timings was discussed, but no exact details were finalized. A proposal for installing LCDs at the entrance of every hostel was also brought up, and concerns for the budget for the same were discussed.