- IIM Calcutta authorities hired around 20 contractual staff members on Tuesday, who will be deployed at the girls’ hostels whenever a plumber or an electrician is required to undertake repairs. The staff will be present outside the area where the repairs are being done to ensure the safety of the women
- Delivery personnel are now barred from entering the girls’ hostels. The security personnel on campus have been asked to collect the food or other items from the delivery personnel at the gate
IIM Calcutta authorities have come up with “extraordinary solutions” after the students, in an interaction with the institute’s director-in-charge on Monday evening, expressed concerns over safety and security on the campus following the alleged rape of a 24-year-old woman, leading to the arrest of a second-year student of the MBA programme.
According to an IIM-C official, a section of women students informed the director-in-charge that they want the institute authorities to provide them security when a plumber, electrician, or any such worker enters hostels to carry out repairs.
“The director-in-charge told them that he would be hiring 20-odd contractual staff who would be on guard at the hostel while the concerned mechanic would carry out repairs. They are wary about the entry of the outsiders,” said the official.
Initially, it was decided that the students, irrespective of their gender, would be asked to collect food and other items from delivery personnel at the gate, the official said.
“However, the women students told director-in-charge Saibal Chattopadhyay on Monday that they are not comfortable with the idea of going to the gate. Therefore, the security personnel have been asked to collect the items at the gate and deliver them,” the official said.
The director-in-charge and members of the institute’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) addressed students in a general assembly on campus on Monday evening.
Paramanand Mahaveer Toppannawar, 26, a second-year IIM student hailing from Karnataka, was arrested early on Saturday on charges of inviting a 24-year-old woman to his room in the Lake View Hostel and spiking her drink before raping her on Friday. Police have barricaded Room 151 on the first floor of the hostel and deployed personnel on the campus.
An IIM official said the first-year students are concerned about their safety.
“Their parents are making frantic calls to them over their safety. In turn, they are becoming more wary. This was reflected in their interaction with the IIM-C authorities. The IIM authorities are trying to assuage the concerns by taking extraordinary steps during an extraordinary situation,” the official said.
According to the official, when the director-in-charge told the security officer that they would have to deliver food under the changed circumstances, he objected to it because their job profile did not include this.
“The director-in-charge had to convince him, citing the unprecedented situation
on the campus,” the official said.
According to a former dean, if the IIM authorities do not give the impression that they are doing everything to ensure the safety and security of the students, the admission of women students next year will take a hit.
“This year, the admission was completed before the incident. The fact that a second-year student was arrested for allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman inside the Lake View hostel, a co-ed facility of a gated campus, has shaken the confidence of the students,” said the official.
The campus has two co-ed hostels: Ramanujan and Lake View.