NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has started a fundraising campaign for laptops and internet subscriptions for students who are facing financial problems amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The institute has decided to go completely online for the first semester of the 2020-21 academic session but is anticipating problems with implementing the decision for students who come from the economically deprived sections.

“We have 600 such students who cannot afford necessary hardware like laptops and broadband connections to support online education. The estimate that the cost of each laptop and broadband connection, which many students require, is approximately Rs. 50,000,” says the fundraising page on the institute’s website. Going by this estimate, the total amount required is Rs 3 crore.

IITs fundraising

IIT Kanpur is not the first IIT to attempt to raise funds for students who don’t own laptops and don’t have internet connections. IIT Bombay initiated a fundraiser in late June and by July 9, a single batch of its alumni had donated Rs 1.25 crore for laptops for students. The Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh has started a “COVID emergency fund” that is intended for more general use, including scholarships for students whose families are facing financial hardship due to the pandemic.

Apart from corporate social responsibility, or CSR, funds, IIT Kanpur’s office of the dean of resources and alumni, DORA, has also initiated the “#OneAlumnusOneStudent” campaign under which an alumnus supports one or more students.

Financial support “will make the process of helping the students smoother and more transparent,” says the university statement.

Also Read:

• IIT Kanpur: COVID-19 plan put to use after health centre staff tested positive

• COVID-19: IIT Kharagpur raising funds to help the poor

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