IIT-Kharagpur announces total campus shutdown till May 23

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has closed its office due to the surge in cases in the second wave of COVID-19 and is making arrangements for its PhD scholars to return home. They will first be tested for COVID-19.

“We have not asked the PhD scholars on the campus to go home but we will get them tested and then we will make the plan to send them home through our own transportation, so that they are safe during travel”, clarified IIT Kharagpur registrar, Tamal Nath, after complaints from students that they were being asked to vacate the campus by tomorrow -- May 13. The campus will remain closed till May 23.

Students who test positive will be isolated within the campus and given treatment. Their travel back home will be arranged only after they recover.

Essential services staff will continue to work on the campus, following all COVID protocols, Nath said. Shops on the campus selling essential commodities will be allowed to open for a stipulated period as per the state government's directive.

IIT Kharagpur COVID-19 facilities

“Nothing is sufficient in this pandemic situation,” said Nath while discussing how the campus is preparing itself to support those who test positive. “We have a small hospital here on campus. We have identified some rooms and are keeping them ready in our guest house to be used for isolation purposes. We already started with 40 rooms in the guest house and hostels we have here. We are making another 30 rooms ready for ourselves.”

Nath also said that online classes will continue since it is not known for how long the pandemic will continue. He also said that while most employees reside on campus, the movement of those residing outside will be restricted from Friday.

IIT Delhi had allowed students to head home in March itself and later conducted a survey among students based on which the institute announced a range of measures to relieve stress among its students. IIT Roorkee had also asked its students and staff to return home after a sudden surge in the number of cases. IIT Jodhpur has had over 260 cases on campus since February 2021.

With inputs from PTI