The state government is set to allocate funds for the installation of 70 CCTV cameras at South Calcutta Law College, nearly eight months after a first-year student was gangraped on the campus.

According to an education department official, the reason behind the delay in installing CCTV cameras was the late arrival of the required approval from the finance department. The official said that the approval was received recently.

The official stated that the public works department (PWD) has been given the responsibility to install CCTV cameras. The PWD must take advice from the college authorities before installing the cameras.

Last September, the college wrote to the department to request financial support for the installation of 70 CCTV cameras, with the intention of covering the entire campus with CCTV surveillance and to tackle safety and security concerns.

The college sent a budget of ₹ 12 lakh to the state government, said Nayna Chatterji, the vice-principal of the college.

The college has so far three CCTV cameras, which were installed in January 2023.

"Since the college does not have funds to install 70 CCTV cameras, we wrote to the department," said a college governing body member.

Vice-principal Chatterji said the college governing body resolved to approach the state government seeking support for the CCTV.

On Friday, she told Metro: "I am feeling relieved. The installation of CCTV cameras was vital in addressing the security concerns on the campus. The students were feeling unsafe because of what happened in June."

Manojit Mishra, a former Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad unit president of the college who had graduated in 2022, first-year students Pramit Mukherjee and Zaib Ahmed, and security guard Pinaki Banerjee were arrested for their alleged involvement in the gang-rape of a first-year student.

The vice-principal stated that the CCTV cameras installed in January 2023, following a complaint of ragging on a first-year student, were not enough.

"The 12 CCTV cameras that the police installed on the campus following the June incident had been dismantled in October. Our lone security guard retired on January 31. The installation of CCTV cameras was an immediate requirement," said Chatterji.

Last October, the first-year student had shifted to another government-aided law college in the city because continuing on the Kasba campus would have been "a tormenting experience", her father had told this newspaper.

The first-year ragging complainant, too, was forced to leave the college in May 2023 out of fear and trauma.

The vice-principal stated that they had requested a significant number of cameras to cover the entire campus, which includes classrooms, hallways, and the elevator.

"More CCTV cameras would enhance security and help us earn students' confidence. The June incident showed that we failed to protect our student. We do not want recurrence of any such incident," Chatterji said.

On June 30, students held a protest march in front of the campus demanding the installation of CCTV cameras and an end to political influence on the campus to ensure their safety.

An Alipore court in mid-January had framed charges against the four men accused in the alleged gang-rape.