A representative of the US-based Global Jadavpur University Alumni Foundation (GJUAF) came to the university’s production engineering department last Friday to find out if students have started using 15 new computers that have been installed with funds from the foundation.
Sourajit Guha, one of the directors of the California-based foundation and a former student of the electronics and instrumentation engineering department, said teachers of the production engineering department told him they need funds to maintain the existing computers, too.
He visited other departments and took note of what they require so more funds could be mobilised.
The Telegraph reported on December 16 that the platform of former JU students raising funds to help the cash-strapped university has contributed around Rs 7 lakh to their alma mater for buying 15 computers for the department.
“They want funds for the maintenance of the existing and new computers. More or less all the departments need funds for one head or the other. We will reach out to alumni worldwide with the list of requirements so adequate funds can be raised,” he said.
Guha who graduated from JU in 1987 said they posted a message along with pictures of the newly-installed computers on the foundation’s Facebook page.
“We need to be accountable to our contributors. This will convince them contribute more and help us reach out to newer groups,” he said.
“With your (former students) contributions, GJUAF is helping different departments in Jadavpur University. One such example is buying 15 brand-new computers for the Computer Lab in Production Engineering,” the foundation’s message on Facebook on Monday said.
“The procurement process includes….installation of 64- bit computers in the Computer Lab by replacing old-32-bit computers along with picture tube-based monitors.”
Bijoy Bhattacharya, head of the department, said they had been struggling for years with old computers incompatible with the latest software and the students were suffering because of this.
He said they had sent the requisition for new computers to the JU authorities but could not procure new machines till the foundation stepped in because the university was reeling under a funds crunch. “The students have begun operating the latest computers. But we need25 more computers and hope the foundation will provide support for this as well,” Bhattacharya told The Telegraph.
Before the new computers were installed, a section of the students were being taken to laboratories of other departments so they could work.
Vice-chancellor Suranjan Das had written to the California-based alumni foundation in late October: “The government funding — state and central — is becoming extremely inadequate. I appeal to you to mobilise financial support for the university to enable it to maintain and improve the infrastructure and strengthen our ability to compete at national and international levels.”
The fund crunch has forced the university to impose a “general embargo” on spending in the 2022-23 academic year.
