The IIM Calcutta has asked its students who reside outside the four hostels that have been declared containment zones to leave the campus by January 9, said an official.
The institute’s ad-hoc committee for Covid-19 took the decision as the number of Covid patients has “significantly gone up over the last few days”. More than 50 students of the B-school have tested Covid positive over the past few days. “Boarders of Tagore Hostel and Annexe Hostel that fall outside the ambit of the containment zones have been asked to leave the campus by January 9,” said a committee member.
A notice says: “All the students should vacate the campus latest by 9th January positively.” It asked the MBA (second year) students to take their belongings with them and handover the room to the hostel administration. “The MBA (first-year) students should vacate the room and put their belongings in a common room.”
An IIM-C official said the order would be effective for Tata Halls, Ramanujan Hostel, Lake View Hostel and New Hostel once the Calcutta Municipal Corporation lifted the containment restrictions.
He said they readied an order for vacating all the hostels on Monday afternoon. “But by that time, the civic body announced four hostels as the containment zones. So, the order is now effective for the facilities that are only in the non-containment zone,” said the official.
Till vacating the campus, no students are allowed to go outside the premises (for short durations) except for essential purposes, including medical emergencies.
Manish Thakur, chairperson of the IIM-C’s Covid task force, said they were taking all steps to check the spread.
Another committee member said the students had been advised to head for home because if more travel restrictions were imposed in the coming days, it would be inconvenient for them to reach home. “Already flights from Delhi and Mumbai are restricted to three days. Our students come from all over the country. If more restrictions are imposed, they won’t be able to move,” he said.
Several teachers attributed the present upsurge on the campus to the students frequently venturing out in crowded places as part of the Christmas celebration.
Over 60 students have tested Covid positive on the IIT Kharagpur campus since late December. Several IIT officials said some students went to Calcutta during Christmas and once they returned, the infection rate went up further.
