Garvit Anand | Candidate for Vice President | 2019–20

Vision

If elected as the Vice President, I plan to take the overall development of IIT Kharagpur to a higher locus by fostering a more transparent KGP, bridging the gap between the UG, PG and RS communities and introducing basic amenities at the grassroot level with the best interests of the general body at the helm of all this.

Proposal 1: Career and Entrepreneurship

1. CDC Skill Development Workshops

1.1.1 Current Situation

Data skills continue to be in high demand with enterprises looking to get the most out of their data. With organizations looking to capitalize on their data assets, the role of Python programmer, Data Engineers, and Machine Learning engineer has become central to enterprises.

Most of the recruiting firms ask programming questions in their tests and interviews to shortlist students.

I have got feedback from most of the Student Placement Committee team members that many candidates lack these skills required by the recruiting companies which significantly hampers their chances to get placed in these firms.

1.1.2 Proposition

My proposal aims at equipping students with basic technical knowledge that today is a mandatory demand from most of the recruiters visiting the IIT Kharagpur Campus. ​The workshops conducted as a part of this proposal will target and cater to the weak areas and the needs of the candidates.

Taking into consideration the current situation I propose the following:

● Boosting the placement statistics by introducing “Skill Development Workshops” for students applying for placement and internships with an aim to equip candidates with the necessary technical skills such as Data Science and Programming.

● Recommendations will be made to the students on the basis of mock tests after proper analysis to identify weak zones and the above-mentioned workshops will be conducted accordingly.

1.1.3 Identification

● Candidates will appear for a mock test that will provide insights into their weak and strong areas. Each student will get a recommendation regarding the workshops they should attend to improve upon their weak zones.

● The workshops conducted won’t be mandatory for the students who already feel that they have enough background and preparation for the placement exams and interviews.

1.1.4 Execution and Timeline

● A series of workshops in the field of Data Analysis and Programming will be conducted as a majority of the recruiting companies require basics of the above-mentioned fields.

● These workshops will be carried out under the banner of CDC itself in association with third-party vendors which specifically venture into providing students with these technical skills.

Timeline:

1st Week of August — Mock Test

2nd Week of August — Declaration of results and recommendations

27th Sept — 4th Oct — Workshops on Data Analysis

and Software Development

1.1.5 Groundwork and Validation

● I had a discussion with the placement committee members regarding this and have considered their suggestions while framing this proposal.

● A large fraction of students are interested in Software Development and Data Analytics and aim to secure jobs in these sectors and hence, will require a crash course before the Pre-Placement tests and interviews.

● About 35% of the companies that come to IIT Kharagpur campus for recruitments require software and other technical skills.

● I have contacted Hackerearth for the same and they are willing to help us to structure the mock tests.

1.2​​Departmental Academic Committees

1.2.1 Current Situation

While having conversations with undergraduate and postgraduate students, a common grievance that has been conveyed to me is that they strongly want certain companies and universities to be brought under the umbrella of CDC for their specific Department/Centre/School. Also, the Placement Committee members are of the view that concrete help and suggestions from Professors and students of various departments, centers and schools regarding​the same would be really valuable and propel the placements in the right direction. The CDC Department Representatives can form the communication link between a specific department and Placement Committee for details regarding placements but still there does not exist a systematic think tank at the department level to analyze the placement scenario and the research papers published. This proposal aims at building a transparent channel to convey the grievances of each and every Department, Centre & School to the Placement Committee in order to obtain better results.

1.2.2 Proposition

Departmental Academic Committees will be formed, consisting of student and staff members. The functions discharged by this body will be:

● Discuss avenues to boost placement statistics of the Department, compile the names and present point of contacts for core companies and communicate conclusions to the Placement Committee through Career Development Centre (CDC) Department Representatives.

● Formulate and update Departmental Brochures timely.

● Making a Bi-Annual Report of all ongoing and completed research projects in the respective departments

1.2.3 Execution

● The members of the committee will consist of the following: Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Research Scholar Department Representatives, CDC Department Representative, Faculty Advisors, Placement-in-Charge Professor of the Department.

● The committee will give a bi-annual report of ongoing and complete research projects. This will be at the end of each semester.

● CDC Department Representatives will be selected in the 2nd​​week of August.

● The committee for the academic session will be formed just after the appointment of CDC department Representatives.

● The committee will regularly sit to discuss and decide the means to increase placement statistics of the department. The report of the discussion will be furnished to the CDC.

● The Department Committee will create and maintain a database of department specific companies and universities to be contacted by the CDC for placements and furnish it to CDC.

● The Department Committee will also be working on the Department brochure for their department/center/school.

1.2.4 Groundwork and Validity

● I have discussed the given proposal with the Department Representatives of Mathematics and Mining Departments and they are positive about the formation of the Departmental Committee.

● I have also discussed this with the PG Representative, UG Representative and they are also positive about the same.

1.3 ​​Entrepreneurial Summers

1.3.1 Current situation

In a decision to improve skills of fresh graduates and to provide them with educational and career development opportunities and get practical experience in a field or discipline, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has made compulsory internship for engineering students.

“During the summer vacation after 4th/ 6th semester, students are ready for industrial experience. Therefore, they may choose to undergo Internship / Innovation / Entrepreneurship related activities. Students may choose either to work on innovation or ‘​Entrepreneurial activities resulting in Start-up’​or undergo internship with industry/ NGOs/ Government organizations/ Micro/ Small/ Medium enterprises to make themselves ready for the industry”, the AICTE states in its Internship policy.

Currently, students have to do a compulsory internship during their 3rd year summers (for BTech students)/4th year summers (for Dual Degree Students). There exists a section of students who are passionate to work on their own product ideas during such academic breaks. Such students should be provided with opportunities/resources that align with their line of interest i.e, to work on their own product during summers.

1.3.2 Proposition

● A student who is passionate to work on his/her product idea instead of his/her CDC compulsory internship will be connected with accelerators and incubators.

● Once the product idea is approved by the respective departments and accelerators, the student will be provided with appropriate resources by the accelerator to work in summers.

1.3.3 Execution

● There is currently a section of students who want to work on their product ideas during academic breaks.

● Accelerators will be invited to the campus during CDC internship process, and students who are interested in pursuing entrepreneurial summers will be asked to submit a pitch deck of the idea and timeline of the work that he/she will be doing in summers.

● Once the product idea is approved by the respective departments and accelerator, the student will be provided a No objection certificate by the CDC and his/her Faculty Advisor to work under the accelerator in summers.

● At the end of the process, the accelerator will submit a feedback report to the institute which will serve as an Internship completion letter.

1.3.4 Groundwork and Validity

● I am in discussion with NUMA, a Paris based accelerator also having its operations in Bengaluru. They have a structured programme ready to launch targeting such students. They are positive about the proposal and the finalization of the same is currently under progress.

● I have also taken suggestions from a few placement committee members and they were positive about its implementation and benefits.

1.4​​Alternate Career Group(ACG)

1.4.1 Current situation

Currently, there are numerous societies/clubs under the Technology Students’ Gymkhana that help a student to explore his/her passion in various non-conventional fields like Photography, Dramatics, Civil Services, Choreography, etc. These clubs and societies are essentially a group of like-minded people who work together and benefit each other in terms of skill sharing and collaboration. There is no medium/platform that

helps the students in these non-conventional areas in terms of connecting them with relevant career opportunities.

1.4.2 Proposition

● Students who want to pursue non-conventional career options like Photography, Dramatics, Dancing, etc will be connected with relevant opportunities and frequent training programmes will be introduced so as to sharpen the skills of these students in their respective areas of interests.

● The members of ACG will primarily consist of governors/heads of various cultural societies/clubs of the campus and students who are interested in pursuing alternative careers.

1.4.3 Execution

● Alternate Career Group will be operating under the purview of Technology Students’ Gymkhana.

● The ACG will contact the alumni who have pursued the alternate career choices to conduct talk sessions and guide the students.

● Several paid/unpaid workshops will be conducted throughout the year in order to give a headstart to the students in terms of starting up in their respective fields of interests.

● A comprehensive database of IIT Kharagpur alumni who have excelled in various non-conventional fields will be created, and accordingly, these alumni will be contacted so that they can come down to Kharagpur and interact with the students.

1.4.4 Groundwork and Validation

● I had a discussion with the governors of Technology Dance Society and Technology Hindi Dramatics Society(Pravah), they are positive about the proposal.

● Prof. William Mohanty was contacted regarding the same, and he is interested in extending support towards the formation of such a group.

● Gravity Number, a creative branding agency was contacted regarding a workshop on Youtubing, and I have already managed to obtain a proposal from their end. A Bootcamp can immediately be conducted in the upcoming autumn semester.

Proposal 2:- EmpowerKGP

2.1​​Student Grievance Portal

2.1.1 Current situation

As of now, there are multiple portals for different queries/grievances across various platforms(websites). This has resulted in a lack of awareness among students about where to lodge complaints of different categories. Moreover, most of these portals can’t ensure the timely redressal, efficiency, and accountability of the office bearers and hold him/her responsible for the complainant.

For Example:

The current existing portal on ERP solves the following problems:

● Issues catering to Technology Students’ Gymkhana.

● Issues catering to BC Roy Hospital and SRIC.

A complaint form also exists from where complaints are directly forwarded to Vice President and General Secretaries. But there is no way to judge the efficiency of the current system and make the office bearers really accountable.

2.1.2 Proposition

I propose a more prevalent form of complaint redressal platform in the current scenario which can be seen widely used in service-based firms to address the complaints of their consumers. This platform envisions to be the following:

● Become a one-stop solution to all complaints categorically in a time-bound manner.

● A dashboard which shows the performances of concerned office bearers hailing from different facets of student life.

The performance reports of the office bearers can be accessed by the student community after signing in to their account. This will also make the elected as well as nominated TSG office bearers directly accountable to the student community.

2.1.3 Execution

● The main focus will be on making things transparent. ​So, we can host the portal backend on Gymkhana/ Institute Website.

● Each student will have a user account — Name, Roll Number, Department and Hall.

● The very first step will be to select the type of complaint from the categories already listed on the portal.

● This may again lead to subcategories and at last the concerned authority’s option will appear so as to lodge the complaint.

● The concerned office bearer will receive notification of every query submitted by the user.

● He/She can suggest some predetermined remedies and the timeframe for redressal.

● The timeframe for solving each grievance will be made aware to the student.

● There will be a public dashboard which will show the pending complaints under each officer bearer.

● Only after failing the deadline set by the concerned authority itself, the query will go to the unresolved section under that particular authority.

● This will help in keeping a tab on the number of active and resolved queries under them by making it visible to all the students.

Problem Category(for ex: Hall Related) → Office Bearer (G.Secretary, Maintenance) → Lodge the Complaint.

Main Landing Screen

● Department

○ Which Department? [So that students can also enter complaints from other departments]

■ Subject

■ Complaint (300 words)

● Hall of Residence

○ Which Hall?[So that students can also enter complaints from other halls]

■ General Secretary, Mess

■ General Secretary, Technology

■ General Secretary, Social & Cultural

■ General Secretary, Sports & Games

■ Other

● Subject

● Complaint(300 words)

● Technology Students’ Gymkhana

○ Vice President

○ General Secretary, Sports & Games

○ General Secretary, Technology

○ General Secretary, Social & Cultural

○ General Secretary, Students’ Welfare

○ Technology Coordinator

○ Public Relations Chair

○ Institute Girls’ Sports Nominee

○ Gymkhana Editors

○ Other

● BC Roy Hospital

○ Subject

○ Complaint(300 words)

● SRIC

○ Subject

○ Complaint(300 words)

● ERP

○ Subject

○ Complaint(300 words)

The website will consist of three panes:

- The thread for the conversation regarding the complaints.

- A dashboard for the office bearers where they can view their active and resolved complaints.

- A dashboard for the users where they can view the active and resolved complaints allotted to each office bearer.

2.1.4 Groundwork and Validation

● The app will be created and will be maintained by the Technology Coordinator, Gymkhana.

● Profe​ssor William Mohanty (President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana) was contacted and he was affirmative regarding the same.

2.2 Proposition Recommendation Form (PRF)

​2.2.1 Current Situation

IIT Kharagpur student community has a wide range of ideas that can be implemented towards the betterment of IIT Kharagpur. However, there are no structured means to propose a project/proposal to the Vice President and many such ideas have come in recent times which lack support from the administration.

2.2.2 Proposition

Creation of a form that allows students to directly recommend projects or proposals that are inclined towards the betterment of IIT Kharagpur and work along with them in order to execute them once accepted.

2.2.3 Execution

● A form asking for recommendations of such proposals will be set up on the Official Gymkhana website/ ERP.

● The person recommending the project would be asked to describe the project in 500-words along with the contact details of the person.

● Once the 500-words form has been submitted in the ERP along with contact details, it will be sent to the hall council of the respective person for guidance, suggestions, and approval.

● If the hall council finds the idea/project to be interesting, it will be forwarded to the Vice President, TSG for further scrutiny.

● The shortlisted entries will be asked to send details of their project in a proper format including the financials, timeline, and execution.

Format​:

Title and Description of the project (1 slide) Vision/ Outlook of the project (1 slide) Solution/Product (1 slide)

Business plan/ Strategy (1 slide) Progress so far (1 slide)

Target Audience (1 slide) Budget Requirements (1 slide) Future projections (1 slide) Team (1 slide)

● The projects if selected will be implemented working with the person recommending it.

● The Vice president, TSG will act as the sole point of contact for the person who has submitted the proposal and will help him to arrange meetings with the respective decision makers in the institute.

● Once the proposal is approved by the respective committee, proper resources and support will be provided to the student to execute the project.

● After the project is completed, the student(s) working on the project will be awarded a certificate of appreciation by the President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana.

2.2.4 Groundwork and Validation

● After subsequent discussions with Prof. William Mohanty (President, TSG), it has been concluded that such a form can be set up for the betterment of the IIT Kharagpur community as a whole.

● A certificate of appreciation can be provided to the person who executes the project, the same has been confirmed by Prof. William Mohanty.

● The ERP section has confirmed that they can add an option in the students’ tab of the ERP portal where such a form can be put up.

2.3 Revamping Internal Complaints Committee

2.3.1 Current Situation

Currently, the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) consists of 12 members and is headed by Prof. Jyotsna Dutta Majumdar (Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering) and consists of only one student member, the Hall President of Rani Laxmi Bai Hall of Residence. ​The major problem in ICC is the lack of student representation in the committee due to which the knowledge about the committee is limited to a very few students inside the campus and hence the process of registering a complaint against any kind of harassment is not known by many students.

2.3.2 Proposition

● I propose to add both the General Secretaries, Student Welfare to the existing Internal Complaints Committee. Their responsibility will be to ensure that all the complaints reaching ICC are addressed properly.

● A segment for the awareness of ICC will be added as a part of the UG and PG induction programme.

2.3.3 Groundwork and Validation

● After conducting an informal survey among the female students of the institute, it has been observed that various harassment issues have been completely overlooked either due to insufficient meetings or lack of understanding between the victim and the committee.

● Students are more willing to address their problems to other students instead of freely opening up to the faculty of the institute.

● I had a discussion with Prof. Srabani Taraphder (Member, ICC) and she was positive regarding the addition of two more student members in the committee.

2.4 Transparent KGP

2.4.1 Current Situation

Some hall General Secretaries and Hall Presidents share the fund management in the Facebook groups before GBMs. Currently, there is no means to understand how the budget is allocated by Gymkhana to various societies on campus. Every student pays a certain amount of money before every semester as part of the Gymkhana fees. Since

the money is being pooled by the students themselves, each and every one of them should have the right to know where the fund is being used.

2.4.2 Proposition

Every student will have open access to the fund management of Technology Students’ Gymkhana. A mandatory review will be scheduled for all post bearers regarding the initiatives undertaken by them.

2.4.3 Execution

● Any society/club that requires funds from the Gymkhana will propose a proper breakdown of the budget that they require.

● The proposed budget will be discussed in the budget meeting.

● The minutes of the meeting of the budget meeting every year will be sent to every member of the General Body.

● This will help every member of the general body to keep a track of the amount of money that is being disbursed​to all societies/clubs that are associated with the Technology Students’ Gymkhana and can reach out to the respective General Secretary for any grievance/queries and they will be liable to answer them.

2.4.4 Groundwork and Validation

● Vaibhav Khatwani (Current General Secretary, Social Cultural) is of the opinion that this proposal will act as a relief to the upcoming General Secretaries of Gymkhana since a general grievance among all societies/clubs is regarding the funds that are being disbursed to them and other societies/clubs, and a transparent accounting of the same will reduce the number of queries that the General Secretaries receive on a daily basis.

2.5 Inter​IIT Alumni Fund

2.5.1 Current Situation

IIT Kharagpur, being one of the oldest institutions in the country is privileged to have a rich alumni base and ultimately a lot of donations are made by alumni throughout the world for the betterment of the institute in various domains. But, in terms of raising money for certain time agnostic events and initiatives like the Inter IIT meets, IIT Kharagpur does not have a structured system where alumni can donate and support.

2.5.2 Proposition

● I propose to create a separate fund under the purview of the Technology Students’ Gymkhana and the Alumni Cell so that funds can be pooled specifically for the Inter IIT Meets.

● The money will be raised from the Alumni after taking the necessary permissions from the Dean of Alumni Affairs and President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana.

2.5.3 Execution and Validation

● Secretaries of Technology Students’ Gymkhana will create an informational guide for the alumni and will contain a Hall of Fame(describing IIT Kharagpur’s remarkable achievements during previous Inter IIT Meets) and the avenues which will be explored after the fund is raised.

● After receiving a request from the President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana regarding the need for Inter IIT Alumni Fund, a specific section for Inter IIT fund will be added by the Executive Officer of Alumni Affairs and International Relations.

● The Inter IIT Alumni fund collected will then be distributed to different meets — Technology, Cultural, and Sports.

2.5.4 Ground-work

● Inter IIT Cultural Meet 2018 captain was positive regarding the avenues that can be generated through the Alumni Fund.

● A similar portal exists in IIT Kanpur which has the option of donation to respective fields through the Alumni.

● Mr. Anirban Roy (Executive Officer, Alumni Affairs and International Relations) was contacted for the same and he approved on the proposed process.

● Prof. William K Mohanty (President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana) was contacted and he said that he has already considered doing the same and will be happy to take this initiative forward.

Proposal 3:- Infrastructure and Services

3.1 ​​E-Stand

3.1.1 Current situation

● Currently, there are only a handful of conveyance options available to the students that include cycle rickshaws, E-rickshaws, Vans and Buses(Only for classes).

● The number of these service providers is very less as compared to the size and the population of the campus.

● Since they are not stationed well, it is harder to find them without the contact numbers of the drivers and since the need vs availability curve is too steep, the prices are very high.

3.1.2 Proposition

● A centralized system of E-Rickshaws will be set up on the campus. The prices for traveling within campus will be fixed to a nominal rate according to the distance of locations inside the campus.

● The E-Stands, consisting of Stationary and Food vending machines will be strategically set up on the campus as E-rickshaw stands so the students have a convenient and reliable transportation facility.

● Seating arrangements will also be present in the E-stands.

3.1.3 Execution

● A few E-Rickshaw drivers were contacted and they agreed to use to E-Stands if they were built.

● A technician will be hired by the Institute for the maintenance of vending machines.

● The budget for 12 vending machines at INR 1,50,000 per machine:

INR 6*2*1,50,000 = INR 18,00,000. SS & Associates, a wholesale Electronic Vending Machine manufacturer was contacted for the same.

● This budget will either be raised through the Institute or will be raised as sponsorship in return for branding in the Institute.

● I had a conversation with Mr. Arindam Mukherjee from Civil Construction and Maintenance and he said that proposal for one stand is already underway. After it’s implementation, it will be easier to build other stands.​

● These are the strategic locations where E-stands are proposed to be built.

3.2 Kolkata Bus Service

3.2.1 Current Situation:

● Students at IIT Kharagpur have to bear a lot of charges for traveling to and fro between Kolkata and Kharagpur during the semester break.

● Currently, there are two active facebook pages named as Travel KGP! and KGP Centrale, where one can post and ask for a travel companion, in order to share travel expenses.

● There are no facilities provided by the campus such as a Bus Service for this.

● Travel KGP! has more than 4,880 members out of which its active member ranges from 1.8K on a normal day to 2.8K(1st January 2019).

3.2.2 Proposition

● Bus service facilitating the student community traveling to and fro between IIT Kharagpur and Kolkata.

● A seven hours round bus trip from IIT Kharagpur campus to Kolkata and back.

● A maximum utility will be ensured using the registration data acquired from the ERP.

● Vice- President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana, Automobile Section and Administration will mutually decide Terms and conditions for through buses.

3.2.3 Execution

● An option for traveling preference would be added in ERP, asking about :

1. Date of traveling

2. Suitable timings of bus services out of availability for traveling.

● Based on the data received, the bus timings will be decided to ensure maximum utilization after which a confirmation will be taken from the students to fix their seats.

● Charges for using an institutes bus service for traveling on a round trip is around 10,000 INR for any department of IIT Kharagpur. And the bus capacity is 40. The fees charged for the service will be Rs 10,000/40 = Rs 250

3.2.4 Groundwork

● Based on data analyzed through Facebook Page named as Travel KGP!, I found that the majority of students travel to-from IIT Kharagpur Campus- Kolkata during Semester break as

Date

Posts

Active members

2018–11–27

26

2414

2018–11–28

25

2382

2018–11–29

11

228

● Based on the Travel KGP! :

27th November: Most of the students had a flight between 9 PM to 12 PM, and thus required a single bus.

● 28th November: Similar post-analysis results in the requirement of bus service at the following times

1. 7:00 AM

2. 11:00 AM

3. 15:00 PM

4. 16:30 PM

Based on poll created on the Facebook Page (Travel KGP!), I found that the above-mentioned trend can be used for predicting that the majority of people would be arriving at the airport from 9–11 AM from 1–3 PM and from 6–8 PM.

● After discussions with the transport section, I have found that they have the required resources to run buses to and fro from Kolkata airport on a paid basis.

3.3 Bicycle Path Shed

3.3.1 Current Situation

IIT Kharagpur is prone to heavy rainfall between July and October which creates a problem for the students to attend classes. Although the students carry umbrellas and the cycle tracks are covered with trees, the amount of rainfall that Kharagpur receives still creates a problem.

3.3.2 Proposition

I propose to construct a fiber overhead shade on all the bicycle tracks that are used as routes to reach classroom complexes.

3.3.3 Execution

● The total cost of the construction of these shades will be generated by the Civil Construction and Maintenance department.

● The funds for this project will be raised through:

○ Institute

○ Alumni

○ Graduating batch

Proposal 4:- PG/ RS Welfare

4.1​​Annual Research Expo

4.1.1 Current situation

● Numerous Research Scholars lack the opportunity to showcase their research projects to industry experts at IIT Kharagpur.

● The research conducted in IIT Kharagpur may not have proper recognition at times and requires a well-established publicity channel to be showcased.

● Researchers often call on industry and the public for help in data collection but the results of the research are very often not understood by the general public and the industrialists.

4.1.2 Proposition

● To recognize the accomplishments in research, innovation and creativity, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur will present its first Annual Research Expo.

● A platform for Researchers to showcase their intellectual properties and display projects to a plethora of industry experts who will come together during the expo.

● The expo will consist of events like:-

○ Poster Presentation and Product Expo:​This aims to be an interactive event with prototypes and setups being displayed to the audience.

○ Oral Presentation: ​The presentation will be about the significance of the research for the world and its application in real life

○ Lecture Series:​It will be a combination of quality, versatility, and stardom while focusing on industry leaders and pioneers of our era in terms of Research.

4.1.3 Execution

● A similar Research Expo is conducted at IIT Madras​https://www.rsdiitm.org/

● Annual Research Expo will be a sponsored event and the team to execute this event will be selected by the Research representative nominated by the Vice President.

4.2​​Research Scholar Representation, Extra-Curricular Activities

4.2.1 Current situation

● Currently, the involvement of PG/RS in extra-curricular activities is relatively less, be it sports, social & culture or tech activities.

● As per last year’s record, only 18 PG/RS(s) were part of the Inter-IIT sports team, which clearly shows their less involvement in sports activities.

● Major part of PG/RS community is not aware of tech and so-cult related activities going on inside the campus, since they lack a proper channel to convey all the updates regarding sports, tech and so-cult activities inside the campus, which is not the case for the UG students (for eg. there exists many social media groups, official TSG google group to keep them updated).

● The current situation is affecting the IIT Kharagpur‘s overall progress in sports, tech, and so-cult as PG/RS are probably more experienced in their particular hobby/field than a UG. The increment of their involvement in extracurricular activities will ultimately lead to the development of UG as well as of IIT Kharagpur’s sports, tech, so-cult culture.

4.2.2 Proposition

● In order to improve the involvement of RS in extra-curricular activities, I propose that three nominated RS representatives will be introduced as the members of the executive council, each for sports, social & culture and tech.

● To diminish the lack of information to PG/RS regarding extra-curricular activities going inside the campus, a proper medium will be established like the formation of google groups and facebook groups.

● Majorly PG/RS have less workload during morning hours, so morning slots will be made available for sports practice.

4.2.3 Execution

● During PG/RS induction, a form will be circulated asking for the sport in which they are interested/experienced, after which RS representative (sports & games) will arrange for proper morning slots for practice.

● An official google group will be created for PG/RS through which respective RS representative will keep PG/RS updated regarding extra-curricular activities going inside/outside the campus.

4.2.4 Groundwork

● After having a word with PG representative (Mr. Mohit Pundir), the major problem I felt that hinders the participation of PG/RS in such activities is the lack of a proper channel to keep the PG/RS updated regarding such activities.

● For availability of practice slots in the morning, I consulted Mr. Ishaan Ahmed (PTI, squash). As per him apart from the two NSO days in a week, morning practice slots can be arranged for PG/RS.

4.3​​Inter-Departmental Lab Slots

4.3.1 Current situation

● Currently, a lot of students are not able to get a lab slot in the Central Research Facility (CRF) as there are a limited number of slots and the number of students applying for the same is quite large hence all of them are not able to get one.

● This is largely hindering students to access the equipment of other department’s laboratories thus creating a problem for them to proceed further with their work.

● Also, apart from the Central Research Facility, currently there are no other options to access the equipment of other department’s laboratories as a student is not allowed to access a department’s lab unless he is a student of that department.

4.3.2 Proposition

● I propose that the students will be allowed to access other department’s laboratories as well.

● To make the process of booking the lab slots of the Central Research Facility and of the Laboratories of other departments less cumbersome, I also propose to create a central portal for the booking of the slots.

● In the slot booking process, the highest priority will be given to the students of that department, then followed by the students of other departments

4.3.3 Execution

● I have had a discussion with the Head of Department of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In the discussion that followed it was concluded that the research facility is already provided with proper guidance once their project is accepted in the department.

● I have also had a detailed discussion with Dr. Samiran Sona Gauri, Technical staff of Central research facility regarding a combined portal for making the slot booking of both CRF and interdepartmental lab slots.

4.4​​Flexible Placement Option

4.4.1 Current situation

After having discussions with several research scholars, it has come into light that they aren’t allowed to sit for placements until they have submitted their thesis and project work within the given deadline, which is different from the case of undergraduate

students and M.tech students as M.tech students can sit for the placements and submit their required work even after the deadline or even after receiving placements.

4.4.2 Proposition

I propose to counteract the delay in the process of submission and evaluation of the thesis, providing an option to apply for the upcoming campus placements irrespective of the time of submission of the thesis.

4.4.3 Groundwork and Validation

I had a discussion with Dean of Postgraduate Studies & Research, Prof. Prasanta Kumar Das. He has agreed on the same and has affirmed that it can be implemented once discussed in the Institute Senate.

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