problematic models.
Free Online Counselling:
The plan: The manifesto point promised two things.
One: live video counselling for all students and two:
confidential and secure counselling.
The status: Counsellor Bharti Mohan Bhora has been
spoken to and she has agreed to counsel students online
when not on campus. Not much else has been done in
this regard as a concern that is cited is privacy issues.
Our take: For one, if Skype cannot be trusted as a secure transmission mode, then how
much security is expected for an online chat? And, what kind of network security breach is
in question? Also, was this not seen as an issue before the elections itself with security a
matter of concern in counselling at that time too?
Says he, "Before elections, the main issue was bandwidth. We have solved this and the issue
of security also, but you always tend to think 'thoda aur kar lete' before you implement."
Where's the end then, we ask.
Internship Cell: What was originally intended to be an independent body providing
internship support might not turn out to be so, with the Practice School Division being
concerned that it might interfere with their procedures and interests. For instance,
companies might de-register from being a PS process and choose to be associated with the
Internship Cell as they would then have flexibility of choosing students. With discussions
happening between the SU, PU and PSD, matters are unclear.
24x7 Medical Facilities:
The plan: A remote telemedicine facility would be set up in BITS, with the aim of
improving diagnosis of general and specialized health conditions. This would involve hiring
paramedics to work on shifts around the clock, a ten by twelve feet air conditioned
consulting room and tele-conference with doctors in Apollo. Basic detection equipment
such as PFTs, stethoscopes and mobile devices would be available and paramedics would
use them to communicate patient conditions to the doctors.
The status: Ashutosh tells us that Apollo and Medanta Hospitals have been contacted and
Apollo is coming down to present a demo by the end of this month. What took so long
was that the institute had to be convinced of its feasibility and viability (nearly 10 lakhs have
to be borne by the institute). Also, the hospitals took time to make the proposal.
Our take: This is a point that has been implemented and with a fair amount of success at
that. The same has been timely, with the machines proving to be a boon in the winter
months. The service still remains to be extended to the other hostels, however, and the
expansion will hopefully happen sooner than later.
APOGEE Projects Initiative: The idea here was to forward the final list of projects to
the National Entrepreneurship Network, which may then take the same further or prov