Mumbai: IIT Bombay opens hostels for students with internet problems at home

The institute has put in place strict rules regarding social distancing and other things for those on campus

The IIT-B has come to the rescue of its students who have issues with connectivity and power supply while studying from home. It has told them to return to the Powai campus and continue online classes from hostel rooms. The option given to students from remote villages, has been taken up by many.

But life on campus has changed a lot, starting from strict rules regarding social distancing to takeaway of hostel food for the first time ever.

‘No more struggles'

While research students have already been permitted to resume studies at the institute as per central government guidelines, at IIT-B, another category was added to grant such a permission. "This category is - resource constraints students. These are students who have pointed out genuine issues regarding studying from home amid this pandemic. These students are allowed to return to campus after scrutinising their applications for it. However since no physical classes have resumed on campus as yet, they can continue online studies from respective hostel rooms. On campus these students do not have to struggle with issues such as power outage or Internet connectivity troubles," said Professor Tapanendu Kundu, dean, Students Affairs (SA) at IIT-B, adding that even for research candidates the decision to return to campus is voluntary. While students' return on campus is being conducted in phases depending on several factors; currently there are around 2,000 students on campus. Under regular circumstances this number is around 11,000.

‘Immense relief'

"There was no proper broadband connection in my hometown and mobile data was not really an option for live interactive video-classes. Travelling to a place where this could be possible every time, was getting difficult and so I wrote to the institute. I heaved a sigh of relief with the response. I can finally focus on studies," said a student. Another student said, "In my village there was a power cut for 4-5 hours every day. Due to this I was really lagging behind in studies. I grabbed on to the opportunity as soon as I got to know of this option."

Many students faced issues such as no proper broadband connection in their hometowns and moving every time to find access was a problem. Representation pic/istock

But the life on campus, according to them is nowhere close to pre-COVID times, with not many activities or other happenings. Special accommodation arrangements were done as per the safety guidelines according to which, each student is allotted one hostel room. However, toilet and bath areas are common in hostels, so those are shared but in limited numbers, depending on the occupancy of a certain hostel. While hostel mess arrangements have also been customised to ensure safety; for the first time ever, students have been allowed to take their food to hostel rooms.

2,000
No. of students currently on the Powai campus