IIT Kharagpur has asked research scholars residing at the BR Ambedkar hall to “avail of the takeaway mode of mess food” so that crowding can be avoided in the dining hall.
The hall has the largest number of students (950 research scholars) and the highest number of active Covid cases, said an IIT official.
As part of the containment measures, the students have been asked to come according to their slots and take the food to their rooms.
The dean of students, Dhrubajyoti Sen, said till December 15, out of the 70 active cases on the campus, Ambedkar hall accounted for 22.
“Please avail (of) the takeaway mode of mess food, if possible. If this facility is not available, kindly please do not crowd in dining halls and at the same time, ensure safe distance from others while having food,” says the mail that dean Sen addressed to the research scholars.
The mail was sent a day after IIT Kharagpur authorities announced that the campus would remain closed for six days from January 18 to 23 to break the chain.
An IIT Kharagpur official said the take away option had been advised because an assembly of 950 research scholars during the one-and-a-half-hours dining period in each half of the day was not advisable in a hall that had recorded a good number of cases.
“The service providers at the mess would have the food served on the platters and the research scholars have to come and take it to their rooms...,” he said.
The research scholars have been told to wear double masks at all the time and maintain requisite social distancing in the halls in order to segregate oneself from the others as far as possible.
“Please try to remain in the rooms as far as possible,” the email says.
Dean Sen said they would review the situation on January 24 to decide on the next course of action.
An IIT official said even as the cases were coming down in the other halls after the initial spike, the situation in the hall resided by the research scholars had been a matter of concern. “I am sure if we strictly follow these simple rules over the coming five or six days, the total count of active cases would come down in all halls ...,” the email says.
