Better Printing
Facilities on Campus
Originally, printing services were to reach the customer's doorstep, but Ashutosh tells us that the customers found it inconvenient to
wait for the Xerox to reach them. Since this point was present in both the President's and General Secretary's manifestos, they chose a
common plan of action. A photocopying facility was set up during mid-semester examinations and will again be set up during the
comprehensive examinations in the Meera bhawan visitors’ room, which makes it convenient for the residents of Shankar, Vyas,
Malviya as well. In addition, colour printing has also started at S-9, which now falls under the control of Dev Saria.
Internship Cell
A team of students, yet to be shortlisted, with support from the Practice School Division (PSD) and Center for Entrepreneurial
Leadership (CEL) are going to contact companies which are already present for PS to provide internships. This team will come under
the PSD, and hence the Institute, which will avoid any conflict or redundancy. However, this scheme is not applicable this summer and
since his tenure is almost at its completion, continuation is doubtful.
Support for
APOGEE Projects
In a collaborative effort, the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) and the SU sent out a form to disciplinary associations asking
them for projects they felt were good. Using this information, a first set of five projects have been selected and will be mentored by
members of the NEN.
Coffee/Tea Vending
Machine in Every
Hostel
Contrary to the original plan of using Nescafe vending machines, a similar point on Praneeth's manifesto, this was merged with that of
the President. A trial run for tea and coffee vending machines was successfully conducted last semester with Sodexo handling the
logistics. The only formality now are the dealings between SSMS and Sodexo which primarily consist of price negotiations.
(a) Setting up of a ‘BITS-Wiki’ page containing information on all the bodies, departments and clubs existing in BITS.
Well-informed
General Body
We are told that a portal has been set up and information has mostly been updated, however, JPM's final permission to host it on the
intranet is yet to be received. Most clubs, associations and department heads will be soon given access to it, in order to verify the
information. Again, observe that actual access to the website has not been obtained yet.
(b) Official polls to incorporate the views of the General Body and a dedicated online page for suggestions from the General Body on
everyday issues were also recommended under this point, both of which have not been implemented.
Free Online
Counselling
Online counselling which had been one of the key points of Ashutosh's manifesto has been proved to be technically viable and has
gained support from the counsellors. However, the institute has reservation, which has delayed its implementation indefinitely.
With respect to the availability of tele-medical services, Ashutosh tells us that Dr. Ganapathy from Apollo Hospital, Chennai had visited
our campus. He assessed the technical abilities of Sarvi and the BITS Medical Centre, and found that tele-medical facilities can be made
available in these hospitals. On the basis of his assessment he submitted a proposal to the director, which contained three main points:
24x7 Medical
Facilities in the
Form of
Tele-medical
Services
a) Providing super-specialist and specialist tele-consultation.
b) Tele-health as part of curriculum here at BITS.
c) Health awareness lectures.
A committee involving professors and students belonging to the Safety and Medical Advisory Council (SMAC)
and the Students' Union are negotiating the prices of these services. Currently, unlimited number of teleconsultation sessions are available at Rs. 450 per student, further, a 10% discount on consultation at the Apollo
hospital is also available. Again, whether it will actually result in anything depends on the pro-activity of the
future Students' Union who may choose to discontinue the service.
CONCLUSION: As compared to his colleague, he didn’t perform too well, barely
completing any of his independent points to complete satisfaction. His manifesto
which was always perceived to be a “safe” one had counted upon tele-medical and
online counselling services as key points, neither of which got implemented to
satisfactory levels. Even less flamboyant points like the BITS-wiki page did not get
implemented to satisfactory levels.
In 1987, a man, brought up amongst the coconut palm trees and lush fields of Kerala,
was offered a faculty position at an institute in the sweltering desert land of Rajasthan.
His credentials allowed him to bypass the interview process, thereby also denying him
the opportunity to test the waters, or lack thereof, before plunging into this barren
hamlet’s archaic way of life. But plunge he did, with nothing but an inexorable love for
teaching and the support of his family. 28 years later, we know him as Dr. Raghurama,
the outgoing Director of BITS, Pilani.
Following this, he became Deputy Director,
Academics in 2007.
As we sat across him in his chamber, he regaled us with anecdotes from the years gone
by. One of these, from his days as warden, had Dr. Raghurama locking all students out
of their room one fine morning after they’d failed to clear out crates from the corridor
(used for keeping books and clothes) after repeated notices. This had happened only
after the then chief warden had called him and scolded him for being too lenient with
the students.
signing an unacceptable deal. It was only due to the support shown by the entire
student body, which assembled at the beck of the SSMS members within a few
minutes, that the situation was diluted.
Well-versed in the intricacies of the institute’s
administrative work, Dr. Raghurama was
ultimately appointed as the Director of BITS in
2010. This was, in his word, a different challenge
altogether. To coordinate between the myriad of
Having obtained his M.Sc. from IIT, Madras and his Ph.D. from IISc, Bangalore, he stakeholders – the students, faculty, staff- while
joined BITS, Pilani as an assistant lecturer in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering handling decisions on infrastruct \