‘Inter-Bhavan movement of students is not permitted after 11 p.m.’

The above lines are diktats from the authorities at IIT- Roorkee. All this is because of the upcoming Student Council elections in the campus. The students are all charged up, and this electric atmosphere has led to skirmish in the campus. The authorities were prompt to take swift actions, and implement strict rules until elections are done. Although the students are irked by these instructions, authorities feel it is the best way to ensure there is no breach of discipline.  

“The matter was miniscule, but this being the election time, it escalated. There are various factions of students from different Indian regions. This has led to a kind of group-ism resulting in a brawl,” says a student, in the 4th year at IIT Roorkee.The authorities took immediate steps to avert any future confrontations. “There was an incident where the students from one Bhavan (hostel) had gone to the other to address the students there which led to a minor argument. In order to prevent any such situations, we implemented the rules,” says Professor, D.K Nauriyal, Students Affairs Dean at IIT- Roorkee.

 A copy of the rules

But these rules have gone down well with the students, especially since it has also affected the election campaign process itself. “Not more than 5 students are allowed to gather at a time. There are no means to address the crowd or facilities of public address. Any form of campaigns, either online like social media or through posters or pamphlets is also not allowed. The posters I had put up on the notice board were pulled down, leaving me with the only option of addressing students in small groups, multiple number of times,” says a student, who is one of the candidates for the post of General Secretary of Academic affairs.

This however has been refuted by the Student Affairs Dean, D.K Nauriyal, who says, “The students have to register in the morning if they want to use the mike and the loud speakers, according to which they will be allotted a time slot. Also one cannot control content on social media which is why we do not allow that medium to be used for campaigning.” He also added that in order to ensure the entire campus is not defaced, a restricted area has been provided for students to put up posters.

“Though the students don’t like this, and have complained about it, nothing will change until the elections are over. This is a yearly occurrence.” says Ravi Kishore, a student in the 4th year.

The elections will be held on 22, August, 2015 and the results will be declared after 2 days.