GSHA – No Lazy Man

A quick look at what the Hostel Affairs Council, headed by GSHA Devashish Sethia has been up to:
• There have been constant negotiations with service providers like Airtel, Vodafone and DOCOMO to improve their network coverage and they’ve been asked to make their plans more student-friendly and subsidized. There will be new towers coming up soon at 7 locations; paperwork for the same was finished in the last week of August.

• Deals with companies like Coca Cola and Tropicana giving them exclusivity in canteens have brought a sizeable sum of money in return for the institute. The deal with Coca Cola has fetched us 6 lakh INR with an additional 50k worth of products during PAF. The contract with Tropicana will get us 50k worth of Gatorade for sports GC apart from a sum of INR 3 lacs.

• With the support of Dean, SA, the fund release for hostels had been advanced to May in place of November, giving the
hostel council one whole financial year to spend the money judiciously.

• For Hostels 12 and 13, some beverage deals are in progress that will cater to the needs of students during the day.

• To effect smoother functioning, the Hostel Control Unit is to undergo renovation with a new online system to reduce paperwork. One module related to the same is completed while one is in progress.
• The HMC (Hostel Maintenance Committee) will function in a more appropriate manner by inviting a list of problems from each hostel, sorting them out and submitting them to the concerned admin department well ahead of time, so as to get meaningful responses and deadlines during the meeting.

• The Legacy Project: In an internal decision within the batch of 1985, they have pledged $ 400k for the installation of
solar water heaters in all hostels.

• Others: Negotiations with courier companies, SAC toilet renovation, a PAN card camp and a vaccination camp
etc. are underway and are expected to materialise in the coming months.

Himanshu Dixit can be contacted at h.dixit@iitb.ac.in