ऑनलाइन सेमेस्टर और छात्र शोषण – एक प्रशासनिक त्रासदी

“उसूलों पर जहाँ आँच आए टकराना ज़रूरी है, जो ज़िंदा हो तो फिर ज़िंदा नज़र आना ज़रूरी है

कॉलेज महज़़ कुछ इमारतों या कक्षाओं से नहीं बनता, वह प्रशासन या प्रोफेसर से भी नहीं बनता, कॉलेज को उसकी सार्थकता देते हैं, उसके विद्यार्थी। आईआईटी कानपुर कहने को तो देश के सबसे प्रसिद्ध शिक्षण संस्थानों में शुमार है, परन्तु पिछले 11 महीनों से विद्यार्थियों के बिना यही शिक्षण संस्थान अपने अस्तित्व की ज़मीन खोजने की कोशिश कर रहा है। ठीक उसी प्रकार जिस प्रकार 4500 से ज्यादा विद्यार्थी बिना कॉलेज के इस ऑनलाइन शिक्षा प्रणाली का अर्थ एवं उद्देश्य ढूंढने में लगे हैं। इस ऑनलाइन शिक्षा प्रणाली में जहाँ शिक्षकों को कोल्हू के बैल समान परिश्रम करवाया जा रहा है और बच्चे तिल समान पीसे जा रहे हैं, वहीं प्रशासन जमींदार समान होने वाले लाभ को देख के फूला नहीं समा रहा जिसकी कीमत विद्यार्थी मानसिक शोषण और शैक्षणिक हानि से चुका रहे हैं। प्रशासन का निहित कर्तव्य अपने विद्यार्थियों का सम्पूर्ण विकास सुनिश्चित करना और उनके अधिकारों की रक्षा करना है लेकिन जिस प्रकार आईआईटी कानपुर प्रशासन ने पिछले 11 महीनों में UG छात्रों(पूर्व स्नातक विद्यार्थी) की अवहेलना एवं अनदेखी की  है वह प्रशासन की निष्क्रियता की तरफ इंगित करता है। मार्टिन लूथर किंग ने इस संदर्भ में कहा है –

“Our Lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”

निर्वाक आज ऐसे ही विषय पर चर्चा कर रहा है, और UG विद्यार्थियों की उस वेदना को आवाज़ देता है जो लम्बे समय से दबे स्वरों में उनके जीवन का केंद्र बनी हुई है।

13 मार्च 2020 को दोपहर 1 बजकर 16 मिनट पर डायरेक्टर द्वारा भेजे गए ईमेल में यह सूचित किया गया कि मिड-सेमेस्टर ब्रेक 29 मार्च तक बढ़ाया जा रहा है। गठित टास्क फ़ोर्स ने, 20 मार्च 2020 को कैंपस सभी विद्यार्थियों के लिए बंद कर दिया। PG छात्रों को वापिस कैंपस बुलाने का पहला नोटिस 5 सितम्बर 2020 को जारी किया गया जो कैंपस लॉकडाउन के ठीक साढ़े 5 महीने बाद था। लेकिन आज 11 महीने बाद भी ऐसा कोई आधिकारिक नोटिस संस्थान प्रशासन ने UG विद्यार्थियों के लिए जारी नहीं किया है। 328 दिन या लगभग 11 महीने गुज़र जाने के बाद भी  प्रबंधन ने UG छात्रों को वापस बुलाने के लिए कोई तत्परता नहीं दिखाई है। एक ओर जहाँ PG विद्यार्थियों को साढ़े पांच माह में ही वापस बुलाने की कवायद चालू कर दी गयी वहीं UG छात्रों के प्रति संस्थान का उपेक्षापूर्ण व्यवहार उसके रवैये पर कई सवाल खड़े करता है।

ऑनलाइन शिक्षा पद्धति 

किसी भी शिक्षण संस्थान की ज़िम्मेदारी उसके छात्रों को सिर्फ पाठ्यक्रम या पाठन-सामग्री उपलब्ध कराने तक सीमित नहीं होती है, उसका कर्तव्य यह भी सुनिश्चित करना है कि सभी विद्यार्थियों को सीखने के लिए एक समान संसाधन और परिस्थितियाँ उपलब्ध हों। समान परिस्थितियों का अभिप्राय एक समान रहना, एक समान खाना, पढ़ने का अनुकूल माहौल होना, मनोरंजन के लिए समान संसाधन होना और ऐसी हज़ारों रोज़मर्रा की गतिविधियों से है जो सभी को शिक्षा प्राप्त करने हेतु समान स्तर प्रदान करती हैं। कैंपस में छात्रों का एक साथ रहना यह समानता सुनिश्चित करता था, लेकिन कैंपस के बिना हर विद्यार्थी के लिए परिस्थितियाँ, माहौल, संसाधन, कर्तव्य आदि सब अलग-अलग हैं। लेकिन हमारे आला अधिकारियों ने महज़ “Stable Internet Connection” को पैमाना बनाकर इस समानता का मज़ाक बना दिया है। निर्वाक द्वारा किये गए सर्वे में यह बात सामने आई कि 60% से अधिक छात्र जो मध्यम-वर्गीय या वित्तीय रूप से कमज़ोर परिवारों से आते हैं उनके पास एकाग्रचित्त अध्ययन (peaceful study) के लिए घर में अलग कमरा तक नहीं है। अपने छोटे भाई-बहनों को पढ़ाना, घर के कामों में मदद करवाना, आर्थिक गतिविधियों में सहयोग करना इत्यादि ऐसे हज़ारों काम हैं जो कई छात्रों को दैनिक रूप से करने पड़ते हैं। निर्वाक द्वारा किये सर्वे में जब यह प्रश्न पूछा गया तो यह बात स्पष्ट रूप से सामने आई कि 80% से ज्यादा विद्यार्थी साप्ताहिक रूप से 7 घंटों से भी ज्यादा ऐसी घरेलू गतिविधियों में व्यस्त रहते हैं। जो विद्यार्थी आर्थिक रूप से कमज़ोर परिवारों से आते हैं उनके लिए ये आंकड़ा 20 घंटे से भी कहीं ज्यादा है। प्रशासन ने जिस प्रकार सामाजिक परिवेश, घरेलू परिस्थितियाँ, संसाधन की उपलब्धता, पारिवारिक माहौल इत्यादि मानकों को सिरे से खारिज करके  केवल पर्याप्त इंटरनेट उपलब्धता को एक मानक माना है उससे ये बात साफ़ ज़ाहिर होती है कि प्रशासन विद्यार्थियों को मनुष्य के तौर पर नहीं, एक रोबोट या निर्जीव पुतले के समान देखता है।

डीन, अकादमिक अफेयर्स (DoAA) ने सभी फैकल्टी मेंबर्स को ऑनलाइन सत्र हेतु कुछ दिशा निर्देश जारी किये थे, जिसमे एक मुख्य बिंदु सतत मूल्यांकन (continuous evaluation) था। कई कोर्सेज़ में यह बात देखी गयी है कि सतत मूल्यांकन की आड़ में परीक्षाओं (weekly/monthly quizzes) और असाइनमेंट की संख्या बढ़ा दी गयी। जब इस बारे में छात्रों ने डीन अकादमिक अफेयर्स को ईमेल किये तो उन्होंने कोर्स इंस्ट्रक्टर का ग्रेडिंग पॉलिसी पर स्वतंत्र अधिकार होने की दुहाई देकर पल्ला झाड़ लिया। उदाहरण के लिए सेकंड ईयर के एक IC (3 क्रेडिट) कोर्स में छात्रों को प्रति सप्ताह 7 घंटे से भी अधिक काम दिया जा रहा था, और इसी तरह अधिकांश कोर्स में छात्रों को आवंटित समय से अधिक का गृहकार्य दिया जा रहा है। हफ़्ते भर चलने वाले इन्ही असाइनमेंट और एग्ज़ाम्स का नतीजा यह सामने आ रहा है कि अब बच्चों का मुख्य उद्देश्य सीखने-समझने से उलट, परीक्षा के लिए रटना और असाइनमेंट डेडलाइन से पहले सबमिट करना रह गया है। कोरोना महामारी में आर्थिक मंदी के बावज़ूद भी छात्रों के लिए ट्यूशन फीस में किसी प्रकार की कोई कटौती नहीं की गई है। जहाँ सामान्य सेमेस्टर के अनुरूप ही छात्र अभी भी एक लाख ट्यूशन फीस देने को मजबूर हैं, वहीं शिक्षा का गिरता स्तर अपने आप में खतरे की घंटी है। 

यह बात भी ज़ाहिर है कि कई मौक़ों पर बहुत से प्रोफेसर ने ऑनलाइन शिक्षा की कड़ी निंदा की है और इस प्रणाली पर दुःख व्यक्त किया है। ऑनलाइन शिक्षा प्रणाली से न शिक्षक का उद्देश्य पूरा हो रहा है न शिष्य का, आसानी बस प्रशासन को हो रही है जिन्होंने mookit ,codetantra नामक खिलौने सबके सामने रख दिए हैं। आईआईटी कानपुर जो अपनी शैक्षणिक गुणवत्ता के लिए जाना जाता है उसमें शिक्षा का इस तरह मखौल बनना न सिर्फ दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है अपितु शर्मनाक भी है।

छात्रों में बढ़ता मानसिक तनाव 

बढ़ते मानसिक तनाव का मुद्दा अब महज़ बहस या चर्चाओं तक सीमित नहीं रहा है, ज़मीनी स्तर पर भी इसका प्रभाव दिखने लगा है। किसी भी छात्र के जीवन की आधारशिला उसकी शिक्षा होती है, और यह बात जगज़ाहिर है कि एक स्वस्थ मस्तिष्क ही शिक्षा को ग्रहण कर उसे अपने लिए उपयोगी बना सकता है। लेकिन ऑनलाइन शिक्षा, सामाजिक अलगाव, एवं संस्थान प्रशासन द्वारा UG छात्रों की उपेक्षा अब उनके लिए बढ़ते मानसिक तनाव का कारण बनती जा रही है। निर्वाक द्वारा किये गए सर्वे में जब यह सवाल पूछा गया कि ” क्या आप उसी एकाग्रता से पढ़ाई कर पा रहे हैं जिस तरह आप अन्य सेमेस्टर( या जे.ई.ई.) के दौरान करते थे?” तो 88% से अधिक लोगों ने यह बात सामने रखी कि उनके एकाग्रता का स्तर गिर गया है, इन्ही में से लगभग पचास प्रतिशत छात्रों ने कहा कि उनकी एकाग्रता और दक्षता (productivity/efficiency) बिलकुल ही न्यूनतम स्तर पर पहुँच चुकी है। सर्वे में 90% से अधिक छात्रों ने इस बात को माना कि ज्यादा समय स्क्रीन के सामने रहने के कारण उनकी एकाग्रता में कमी आयी है। लम्बे समय तक स्क्रीन के सामने रहने के कारण मानसिक तनाव के साथ-साथ शारीरिक रोग भी बढ़ते जा रहे हैं। मोटापा, पीठ-दर्द, आँखों में जलन, आँखों का कमजोर होना, यहाँ तक की रक्तचाप जैसी समस्याओं का सामना विद्यार्थियों को करना पड़ रहा है। यह सभी आंकड़े इस सच्चाई को साफ़ इंगित करते हैं कि ऑनलाइन शिक्षा विद्यार्थियों के लिए सीखने का कारण नहीं बल्कि बोझ बनती जा रही है। शायद इस बोझ को त्रासदी कहना गलत नहीं होगा क्योंकि मानसिक एवं शारीरिक सेहत पर जो बुरा प्रभाव पड़ रहा है उसका ख़ामियाज़ा छात्रों को जीवन में लम्बे समय तक भुगतना पड़ेगा। आईआईटी कानपुर प्रशासन के अधिकारीगण तो अपनी सामान्य ज़िंदगी बहुत समय पहले ही शुरू कर चुके हैं, हालांकि उन्होंने छात्रों के बारे में सोचना वैसे ही छोड़ दिया है जैसे कोई तानाशाह अपनी प्रजा को उसके हाल पर छोड़ देता है। 

कैंपस लाइफ का अभाव अब छात्रों के व्यक्तित्व पर भी साफ़ दिखने लगा है। एक ओर जहाँ उनका सामाजिक दायरा सिमटता जा रहा है, वहीं दूसरी ओर दिन भर स्क्रीन के सामने रहने के दुष्प्रभाव भी साफ़ उनके व्यवहार में झलक रहे हैं। निर्वाक द्वारा किए सर्वे से यह बात स्पष्ट होती है कि छात्रों में आपसी संवाद, चर्चाएँ, यहाँ तक कि रोज़मर्रा का संपर्क भी समाप्त हो चुका है। जो छात्र कैंपस में सुबह की चाय अपने दोस्तों के साथ MT पे पीते थे,  दिन में डिपार्टमेंट के साथियों के साथ क्लास जाते थे, रात में क्लब के साथियों के साथ हँसी मज़ाक करते थे, पिछले 11 महीनों से बस कम्प्यूटर/मोबाइल के सामने टकटकी लगाकर पूरा दिन निकाल रहे हैं। सामाजिक दायरे के घटने और बढ़ते अकेलेपन से छात्रों में निराशा अब अवसाद (Depression) का रूप लेने लगी है। आश्चर्य की बात ये है कि संस्थान का “Mental Health Support”  ”काउंसलिंग सर्विस” भी छात्रों में बढ़ रहे अवसाद की सुध नहीं ले रहा है। काउंसलिंग सर्विस महज़ परीक्षाओं से पहले तनाव से निपटने के इक्का-दुक्का सेशन करवाकर अपनी ज़िम्मेदारी पूर्ण मान लेता है। कोरोना महामारी और ऑनलाइन सेमेस्टर में जब छात्रों को सबसे ज्यादा मेन्टल और इमोशनल सपोर्ट की आवश्यकता थी तब काउंसलिंग सर्विस अपनी ज़िम्मेदारी से नदारद रहा। उन्होंने “Coping 101″ नाम से जो सीरिज़ चलाई, वह महज़ ऑनलाइन पोस्टर के रूप में सिमट कर रह गयी। काउंसलिंग सर्विस की आधिकारिक वेबसाइट के पहले पेज पर लिखी हुई पंक्ति, ” We are a team of professional counsellors, empathetic students and faculty advisors to assist you emotionally and academically “, निरर्थक और बेमानी प्रतीत होती है। निर्वाक द्वारा किये गए सर्वे में भी 88% से ज्यादा लोगों ने काउंसलिंग सर्विस के प्रयासों को औसत दर्जे से नीचे माना है, जिसमें गौर करने वाली बात यह है कि अधिकांश Y20 बैच के विद्यार्थियों ने भी काउंसलिंग सर्विस की इस विफलता को इंगित किया है। दबे स्वरों में काफ़ी समय से यह बात उठती रही है कि काउंसलिंग सर्विस प्रभाव-शून्य और महज़ कागज़ी इकाई है लेकिन कोरोना महामारी और ऑनलाइन सेमस्टर ने काउंसलिंग सर्विस के महज़ खानापूर्ति वाले रवैये को पूर्ण रूप से उजागर कर दिया है। 

बढे़ हुए स्क्रीन टाइम की वजह से छात्रों में फ़्रस्ट्रेशन (frustration), एंग्जायटी अटैक्स (anxiety attacks), एंगर बर्स्टस (anger bursts) जैसी समस्याएँ भी बढ़ गई हैं जिनका ख़ामियाज़ा उन्हें निजी जीवन में भी उठाना पड़ रहा है। माता-पिता, भाई-बहन एवं घर के अन्य सदस्यों पर गुस्सा करना, चिड़चिड़ाना, अपनी हताशा का गुबार उनपर निकालने के कारण निजी रिश्तों में खिंचाव का सामना उन्हें करना पड़ रहा है। अधिकतर लोगों ने इसे कंप्यूटर/मोबाइल पर ज्यादा समय रहने का एक दुष्परिणाम बताया है। यह बात स्पष्ट है कि ऑनलाइन दुनिया अब न सिर्फ छात्रों की निजी ज़िंदगी पर बुरा प्रभाव डाल रही है, बल्कि उनके लिए अवसाद का मुख्य कारण बनकर भी उभर रही है। सवाल यह रह जाता है कि क्या छात्रों के बिगड़ते मानसिक स्वास्थ्य की ज़िम्मेदारी काउंसलिंग सर्विस लेगा, संस्थान के आला अधिकारी लेंगे या इसे भी “Institute of National Importance” नज़रअंदाज़ कर देगा?

प्रशासनिक इकाइयों का नकारात्मक रवैया 

“We are also working out a detailed plan of entry of students to the hostels which will ensure safety, health and well being of all of you.”  

संस्थान के डायरेक्टर, डीन अकादमिक अफेयर्स, डीन स्टूडेंट अफेयर्स आदि प्रशासन के अधिकारियों ने कई बार अपने ईमेल, फेसबुक पोस्ट्स और अन्य मंचों पर इस बात को लिखा और कहा है, लेकिन यह दावा भी अन्य आश्वासनों की तरह महज़ छात्रों को एक झूठी आशा देने के लिए इस्तेमाल किया गया। हमने पाया कि कई छात्रों ने पिछले 2-3 महीनों में कई अधिकारियों और फैकल्टी मेंबर्स को घर पर हो रही समस्याओं से, बढ़ते मानसिक तनाव से अवगत कराने की कोशिश करी, कई ईमेल भेजे लेकिन प्रशासन ने एक का भी जवाब देना ज़रूरी नहीं समझा। इतना ही नहीं यांत्रिक अभियांत्रिकी विभाग के एक वरिष्ठ प्रोफेसर नए बैच Y20 को ये कहते पाए गए कि यह संस्थान अब अंडरग्रेजुएट छात्रों के लिए नहीं है। यह संस्थान अब शोध केंद्रित संस्थान है और अंडरग्रेजुएट छात्र महज़ इस पर एक ‘बोझ’ (Liability) हैं। हाल ही में एक सीनियर प्रोफेसर ने कहा कि पिछली अकादमिक सीनेट की मीटिंग में अंडरग्रेजुएट छात्रों को वापिस बुलाने पर चर्चा भी नहीं हुई है। एक ओर जहाँ सभी छात्र कैंपस बुलाने की गुहार लगा रहे हैं वहीं हमारे अधिकारी इसपर चर्चा करना भी ज़रूरी नहीं समझते हैं।

संस्थान प्रबंधन के अलावा दूसरी प्रशासनिक इकाई जिससे छात्र अपने समस्याओं के समाधान की अपेक्षा करते हैं वह निर्वाचित छात्र प्रतिनिधि (Elected Student Representatives) हैं। हालांकि किसी भी छात्र नेता ने मुखर रूप से अंडरग्रेजुएट छात्रों की समस्याओं को प्रशासन के सामने नहीं रखा है ना ही उनपे ध्यान देना ज़रूरी समझा है। शायद ही कोई ऐसा दिन होगा जब हमारे इनबॉक्स में स्टूडेंट एग्जीक्यूटिव का कोई ईमेल ना आता हो। लेकिन लगभग पिछले 11 महीनों में गिने चुने ईमेल ही UG छात्रों की असल समस्याओं को लेकर आए हैं। निर्वाक द्वारा किए गए सर्वे से यह बात स्पष्ट रूप से सामने आई की केवल संस्थान प्रशासन नहीं UG छात्र नेता भी कैंपस जनता से संपर्क साधने और उनकी समस्या सुलझाने में विफल रहे हैं। वह प्रशासन की बोली में छात्रों को तो समझा सकते हैं कि संस्थान अपनी तरफ से पूरे प्रयास कर रहा है लेकिन छात्रों की आवाज़ बनकर संस्थान के बहरे प्रशासन के अधिकारियों को छात्र समस्याओं से अवगत नहीं करा सकते। किसी भी छात्र नेता की बातों का वजन उसके छात्र समर्थन और उसके साथ खड़े छात्रों से होता है, लेकिन जब यही प्रतिनिधि छात्र समस्याओं को छोड़ प्रशासन की बोली बोलने वाले महज़ एक कठपुतली बन जाएँ तो उनकी विश्वसनीयता और पद की गरिमा दोनों मिट्टी में मिल जाती है। 

आईआईटी कानपुर की आधिकारिक ध्येय पंक्ति (Motto) “तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय” है, लेकिन जिस प्रकार हर एक प्रशासनिक इकाई हर स्तर पर विफल हुई है उससे यह पंक्ति महज़ एक जुमला बनकर रह गई है। निरंतर संवाद की कमी और बढ़ती निराशा अब छात्रों में आक्रोश का रूप अख्तियार कर रही है। कहीं यह आक्रोश किसी बड़ी आग को जन्म ना दे बैठे इसपर लगातार संशय बना हुआ है।

कुछ मुख्य प्रश्न

सवालों से मुँह मोड़ लेने या उनपर चुप्पी साध लेने से सवालों का अस्तित्व नहीं मिटा करता, बल्कि असंतोष की आग उन्हें और प्रबल कर देती है। ऑनलाइन सेमेस्टर और कैंपस वापिस बुलाने को लेकर संवाद के अभाव में जो समस्याएँ उत्पन्न हुई हैं, उनकी जवाबदेही आईआईटी प्रशासन की नैतिक ज़िम्मेदारी होने के साथ-साथ कर्तव्य भी है। निर्वाक आज ऐसे ही कुछ मुख्य प्रश्न सबके सामने रख रहा है :

  • ऑनलाइन सेमेस्टर में विद्यार्थियों से एक लाख से ज्यादा फ़ीस वसूल की गई। बहुत से प्राध्यापक nptel, youtube इत्यादि पर लेक्चर अपलोड कर अपनी ज़िम्मेदारी से पल्ला झाड़ ले रहे हैं। सतत मूल्यांकन की आड़ लेकर हर हफ़्ते परीक्षा और असाइनमेंट का बोझ डालने के कारण विद्यार्थी ज्ञान पर नहीं अंकों के पीछे भाग रहा है। ऑनलाइन शिक्षा प्रणाली शिक्षा का नहीं शोषण का स्रोत बन चुकी है। इतनी ज्यादा ट्यूशन फ़ीस वसूलने के बाद भी, निम्न स्तर की शिक्षण पद्धति का प्रयोग कहाँ तक उचित है?
  • मानसिक तनाव और हताशा से निपटने के लिए उपयुक्त संसाधन सभी को एक समान उपलब्ध नहीं है। विद्यार्थियों का एक बहुत बड़ा तबका मध्यम वर्गीय या वित्तीय रूप से कमज़ोर परिवारों से आता है जिनके लिए मानसिक तनाव कम करने के लिए कोई शौक(hobby) रखना एक विलासिता (privilige/luxury) है। पारिवारिक कर्तव्यों के चलते उन्हें काफ़ी समय अन्य गतिविधियों को देना पड़ता है, घरेलू झगड़ों और मन मुटाव के कारण भी छात्र का मानसिक तनाव बढ़ता है। घर पर पढ़ने के लिए सबके पास उपयुक्त एवं एक समान परिस्थितियों का अभाव है। ऐसे विद्यार्थियों के लिए संस्था प्रशासन ने ज़िम्मेदारी लेते हुए कोई भी विशेष प्रावधान या इंतज़ाम क्यों नहीं किए। एक ओर जहाँ PG विद्यार्थियों की डिग्री के लिए लैब की ज़रूरत होने की दुहाई देकर उन्हें कैंपस वापिस बुला लिया गया तब UG वर्ग के ऐसे छात्रों को क्यों प्रशासन की तरफ से तरजीह नहीं दी गई?
  • जब UG छात्रों ने निरंतर ईमेल के ज़रिये प्रबंधन, प्राध्यापकों एवं छात्र प्रतिनिधियों को अपनी समस्याओं से अवगत कराया और कैंपस वापिस बुलाने का सवाल रखा तो उन्होंने इसे नज़रअंदाज़ करना क्यों बेहतर समझा। यह जानते हुए भी की छात्रों में लगातार निराशा और आक्रोश का स्तर बढ़ रहा है क्या प्रशासन किसी अनहोनी का इंतज़ार कर रहा है?

निष्कर्ष 

कोरोना महामारी की वजह से भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर के दरवाज़े सभी छात्रों के लिए 20 मार्च 2020 को बंद कर दिए गए थे। तब प्रबंधन का यह निर्णय सराहनीय एवं तर्कसंगत भी था लेकिन कॉलेज को बंद हुए 11 महीने होने को आ रहे हैं लेकिन उन्होंने अंडरग्रेजुएट छात्रों को वापिस बुलाने के लिए कोई जानकारी/रोडमैप सामने नहीं रखा है, ना ही इस विषय में कोई भी संवाद छात्रों से किया है। जानकारी की इसी कमी के चलते अफ़वाहों और अटकलों का बाज़ार भी गरम है जिसकी वजह से रोज़ कुछ न कुछ कानों सुनी ख़बरें अफ़वाहों का रूप ले लेती हैं।  छात्र नेताओं ने भी प्रशासन  के सामने विद्यार्थियों की समस्याओं को यथोचित रूप से नहीं रखा है, जिससे विद्यार्थी प्रतिनिधित्व के अभाव में अपनी आवाज़ प्रशासन तक नहीं पहुँचा पा रहे हैं। दिन-ब-दिन बढ़ता मानसिक तनाव अब छात्रों के बीच अवसाद का रूप लेने लग गया है। जब देश के अधिकतर राज्यों के स्कूल,कॉलेज विश्विधालय खुल रहे हैं, यहाँ तक DU, आईआईटी गुवाहाटी, आईआईटी इंदौर आदि भी अंडरग्रेजुएट छात्रों को वापिस बुलाने का नोटिस जारी कर चुके हैं ऐसे में आईआईटी कानपुर प्रशासन लम्बे समय से इस मुद्दे पर चुप्पी क्यों साधे हुए है। संस्थान प्रशासन का यह गैर ज़िम्मेदाराना रवैया अब उपेक्षा से बढ़कर UG विद्यार्थियों के लिए मानसिक शोषण का रूप ले चुका है। शोषण एक ओर जहाँ क्रांति का जनक है वहीं दूसरी ओर अनहोनी की आशंका भी बढ़ा देता है। आखिर आईआईटी कानपुर प्रशासन किसका इंतज़ार कर रहा है – छात्र आंदोलन का या कई और बेकसूरों की मौत की ख़बर को अख़बार की हेडलाइन बनने का।

“ हम अम्न चाहते हैं मगर ज़ुल्म के ख़िलाफ़

गर जंग लाज़मी है तो फिर जंग ही सही ”

~ साहिर लुध्यानवी

Footnotes:- [1] The sher used in the starting of article is written by “Wasim Barelvi” .

[2] Survey results for the figures mentioned in the article can be accessed here : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nmE2deifmObPJoGS071MM5PRXSvbtnbc/view?usp=sharing

[3]PDF file for the Nirvaak can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12WBk7AGDYKZYkCkpIw60URuzd4Kmh6TU/view?usp=sharing

Working@IITK: Reports from Hamara Manch (May 2019)

Why this Newsletter

This is an attempt to bring the ground reality of working in the campus to the concerned community members. We intend to capture the daily routine, what a worker faces at work, that we keep hearing from workers in our weekly meetings, but have not shared so far with our friends on a regular basis.

In this first issue we bring some incidents from the working of hall messes. We have not shared details regarding the identity of specific halls as Hamara Manch does not believe in pointing fingers at individuals; our focus is on debating and setting right the larger problem of worker rights. What we are particularly alarmed at is the increasing incidences of the violation of dignity of workers as humans and as workers. And there exists no redressal mechanism for this day-day-day almost invisible dehumanisation of these workers. Now that at some places at least through the long-standing community effort workers wages and some economic rights are granted, apparently violation of dignity has become acceptable and part of the deal.

This is a serious concern and there is a dire need to have a conversation about these issues. Let us remember that these workers are the ones who make possible the smooth functioning of the institute every day – our clean roads and toilets, manicured gardens, our food, security, buildings, so on and so forth.

Of course these stories are the worker side of it, though we do make immense efforts to cross check any such incident with fellow workers and users/ officials wherever possible given our meager resources and access. So on any of these issues if you have any other set of facts, please do share with us. We have promised ourselves that we will try to bring this newsletter to you at regular intervals. Please share it as widely as you can and please share your feedback with us. Of course, needless to say, if you do not want to receive it, please drop a line.

Fancy Dine and Fancy Fine

Hostel menus have been becoming fancier, not just for ‘specials’, but even for everyday meals. It is now not uncommon to have more than one variety of roti, dal along with sambhar, rasam, etc., not to mention various kinds of extras ranging from various paneer dishes and sweets to chicken/mutton/fish curries. The number of mess workers, however, has remained constant, and in some cases, has actually gone down in proportion to the number of students residing in the hostel, not to mention the many outsiders who eat regularly in the messes through purchase of coupons.At the beginning of this year, for example, one hostel was operating with 2 cooks instead of the required 4 for a period of three months. To add to the work, for at least two months, while the hall did not have a functional canteen, the mess also provided evening snacks to its residents which are not part of the regularly defined menu as per the mess contract. While the mess workers take on all the extra work and ensure that the best possible food is available to the students three (or four, as the case may be) times a day, their increased labour not only remains unpaid, but they are also subject to arbitrary fines for allegedly ‘poor quality’ food irrespective of their control over the conditions under which this food is produced.

Here are a few examples:
1) In January 2019, finding one poori which was thicker than usual, the mess secretary imposed a fine of Rs. 500 on seven mess workers, three of whom were not even involved in any way in the making of the pooris; they were, in fact, making rotis since pooris, of course, were not the only kind of bread to be served at that meal. It is also important to note that the imposition of this fine was accompanied by a warning to mess workers to stop their ‘netagiri’ or all of them would be fired and replaced by new workers from outside. The ‘netagiri’ here refers to mess workers raising legitimate questions about their overwork and dire need for more workers.
2) In January again, two workers were given 5 days baithiki each (denial of work, and by extension any wages for 5 days, translating into a fine of Rs 5500/-) for ice cream being found melted on their watch. There was no inquiry into the reason the ice cream was melted.
3) In March, a fine of two days wages was imposed on the cook for the curd being sour. It is noteworthy that this ‘sourness’ of the curd was discovered after the meal at which it  as served was over and it had been consumed without complaint by all students present for the meal.
4) In April this year, at one Hall Day close to 500 students / faculty enjoyed the special meal that is part of hall day festivities. This meal is not part of the regular mess contract; there is a separate contract given for it. Interestingly, while the hall day contract was not given to the hall’s regular mess contractor, all mess workers (working under the regular mess contractor) were required to be present for work on the hall day. This, in fact, is the regular practice with respect to Hall Days in all halls. In this particular hall, the workers were, in fact, threatened with a 10-day baithiki (forced absence) if anyone dared to take an off on that day. The mess workers therefore arrived, as usual, at 6:30 am to cook and serve breakfast. And then, from 12 noon to 11:30 pm, they were at work constantly on asks related to the hall day. The hall day contractor had brought his own cooks and twelve servers, the latter of whom arrived at the venue at 7 pm. Meanwhile, all the preparatory work related not only to the cooking of the special meal, but also to carrying it to the serving venue and then serving it to the guests was done by the regular mess workers. The menu for this meal is notable in this context – it included three kinds of paneer dishes, several vegetable dishes, three kinds of sweets, not to mention several kinds of rotis! In addition, the mess workers were also called upon to help with venue preparation – putting up tables, chairs, mattings, etc., which were officially the responsibility of the tenting contractor. Of course, there was no extra payment to the mess workers for all this work; they were given coupons to partake in the special meal they helped prepare, but by 11:30 pm when they finally finished all the required work, they were all too tired to eat anything. The only recognition they received for their immense efforts were complaints regarding slow service especially on the cold drinks and paan counters. There were only 2 workers each at these two counters, with no breaks allowed to them, serving close to 500 people! And a few days after this grand affair, when a few workers were resting for a few minutes in their designated rest area after completing all breakfast-related work, they were ‘caught’ by the Hall President who, appalled at such ‘dereliction of duty’, promptly asked all of them to leave. As a matter of routine, post celebrations the cleaning of premises is also not a part of any contract and regular cleaning workers of the hall (whose actual job is confined within residential blocks, office and common rooms) are made to clean the mounds of garbage that is created overnight, of course for no extra payment. Further these workers are not even part of the celebrations whose ‘mess’ they are made to clean up. Earlier the norm was that whoever was part of the Hall (including all the workers) were invited for the dinner, not leftovers but formal coupons were distributed. This practice has stopped in the last few years.

‘Disciplining’ of Mess Workers

In March 2019, there was change of contractor in one of the messes. While the change in contractor did not result in the firing of any existing mess workers, it did bring in a new management that immediately made arbitrary changes in working conditions without any explanation, let alone consultation with the workers who have been doing all the work of the mess effectively for the past many years. Since the workers have been a cohesive team there, this obviously is an inconvenience if not a threat for the new manager and he has been trying to put workers in their place – should not be seen resting/ talking, they would talk to no one else but him, not to mess secretary, not to wardens, a long list of unilateral dos and don’ts. When mess workers politely asked for a reason for the changes, first from the new management and then the HEC which was on board with the changes, they were bluntly told that for at least one month, the changes would neither be discussed nor negotiated. It has now been nearly three months, but despite workers’ attempts to hold follow-up conversations with the management / HEC, no change is forthcoming. It is important to note that all changes have been applicable only to the unskilled workers already working there; the rest are exempt from them.

Here are some of the changes introduced:
1) Notice was put up announcing compulsory 6 am arrival time for all mess workers irrespective of their work. This is earlier by half hour from the usual arrival time of 6:30 am. It is noteworthy that no fixed departure time had been announced. Workers typically work till 10:30 pm, resulting in a workday of 16.5 hours, exactly double of the legally mandated 8 hours within a maximum 12 hour period!
2) 9 compulsory off days (later reduced to 8). Again, it is notable that this applies only to unskilled workers; all mess workers in higher skill categories such as managers etc. continue to get 30 days (4 more than the mandated 26 days). These off days are imposed irrespective of how many workers are actually needed in the mess at any given time, without taking into account worker absences due to personal reasons. Interestingly, on at least one occasion after such reduction of duties for the unskilled workers, the hall found that it actually had man-days left over from those sanctioned for a month, indicating that there was no reason whatsoever for the compulsory off days. And also that the workers were unnecessarily overworked to compensate for the shortage of workers.
3) Removal of the few chairs in the kitchen working area on which workers could sit for a few minutes when they had some relief from work, or which they could use while doing certain kinds of work. One worker was actually photographed for sitting down after this rule came into existence and threatened with possible consequences for this lapse!
4) One worker was given baithiki for several days allegedly because he was found with gutka outside the mess during the free hours between the two meals. Subsequently, he was made to sign on a document that supposedly had him admitting to his ‘mistake’; this letter was not written by the worker, nor was a copy given to him.

Workers have been trying to raise the issue that they have a right to talk to one another and even to raise their grievances. One of the sore points with them is the number of duties they get, especially now with summers coming when student numbers and therefore workdays further dwindle. Their point has been that if the number of duties is less it should be distributed equitably. Presently while supervisors/ managers get to the extent of 30 duties without supposedly any break, workers can go down to any number from 15-16 to 20-22. Workers contend that while a mess can work without a supervisor, it cannot work without them as they are the ones who do the actual work. In fact many of the supervisors are hardly present during their duty hours and there is no oversight for them. Some of them raised this issue with some of the sympathetic residents who in turn raised it with mess authorities. Two weeks back (early May), the mess secretary called a meeting of the workers along with the manger. The meeting began with a questioning of the workers’ decision to speak to the residents, instead of talking directly and only to the mess secretary. When workers tried to explain their grievance regarding the number of duties that they get, the manager kept bringing some excuse or the other; at some point the mess secretary lost patience saying that things were too complicated to understand and these workers should be transferred to another hall if possible. The meeting ended without any resolution. Though probably as a consequence of this ‘transgression’, one of the senior-most workers (who has been treated with great respect by generations of students) was transferred to chowkdi duty, that is utensil cleaning unit.For the past ten years he had been cutting vegetables. When a fellow worker, who is presently responsible for roti making sought his services to assist him (as the person assigned to him as assistant had no experience in roti making), the supervisor told him that he could have any other worker as assistant, but this person had to remain at utensil-cleaning duty at the express instruction of the manager.

Mess Closure over Summers.

At least two hall messes have been closed for the whole of summers since the students in the hostels have vacated their rooms. At the same time a mess has been tendered and contracted in one of those halls for those students who are staying here for the sports camp being held in the summers. This mess will not hire anyone from the present mess workers as then they will have to pay the minimum wages. For a similar summer camp last year the contractor got workers for Rs 250/ per day while the going minimum wages were Rs 530/-. The contractor had hired a few of the existing mess workers but absconded without paying the dues of 3-4 of those workers which were finally paid only after a year in May 2019. Apparently the contract was given to one of the vegetable suppliers for the hostel messes and there was some dispute regarding his supplies with the institute, so the contractor simply absconded rather than clearing the dues but in the process these workers remained unpaid for their summer services for one year with nobody willing to take responsibility or clear the dues. Legally it is the principal employer’s responsibility (in this case IIT Kanpur) to ensure due and timely payments of wages.

Even in messes which are running through the summer months the student strength has significantly declined. This has led to reduction of the number of workers – or in other words the number of days of work for each worker. But since the menu (with all the extra items) has remained the same and there are large number of guests coming the workload has in fact increased. The iron rule of student-worker ratio (which does not seem to have any concrete basis) has no mechanism to take into account any of these practical problems in its implementation.

A glimpse into the IITK life of Sudha Bharadwaj

Ms. Sudha Bharadwaj did MSc Mathematics during 1979-84 from IIT Kanpur. Currently Ms. Bharadwaj is a trade- unionist and civil rights lawyer in Chhattisgarh and associated with Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha and PUCL. Forum for Critical Thinking is circulating these reminiscences by Sudha Bharadwaj in the light of recent incidents involving her arrest amongst various other intellectuals and activists who have been fighting for the legal and organizational rights of ordinary people in this country. This ensues at a time when vested interests and a section of the media has been unleashing vitriol and uninformed hatred against activists, creating a climate of anti-intellectualism and fear of people who challenge exploitative power structures. In the midst of these dehumanizing attacks, her recollections about life in IIT Kanpur as a student (1979-1984) ought to be read and discussed. It shines light on a long history before us, with many familiar and persistent challenges to progressive change that we have inherited into the present. The concerns about class and gender that this essay brings forth are relevant to this campus even now. While the idiot box manages to demonize people who we know little about in reality, this essay also serves to remind us of her humanity. It serves as a record of her personhood and, through her example, helps to familiarize ourselves with the fact that an alternative way of life is possible even under the most difficult of circumstances.

A Minoritarian View of IITK?!
Sudha Bharadwaj

When I went to IIT Kanpur in 1979 straight after passing Class XIIth in a Central School, I had mixed interests – history, literature and mathematics. No school at that time could have possibly supported such a wild combination so I ended up in the science stream and joined for the 5 year integrated M.S. Math programme. Though my rank (79112) could not have got me any of the coveted Engineering seats, but I can honestly say that Maths was my choice and not merely sour grapes! I also had the background of living in the JNU Campus where my mother was the founder of an excellent Department of Economics and also a much loved teacher. It was an atmosphere of left, liberal, and progressive ideas, a place of post graduate studies where elections were won on hotly debated political issues and not either gundagardi or indifference, and a very safe place where young men and women mixed freely. There I had already imbibed a sense of social concerns and intellectual freedom and a lifelong affinity to socialistic values. I had also decided at a very young age that I would not grow up in the shadow of a mother I could not possibly expect to compete with – so I was determined not to study Economics, and not join JNU either. So when I passed the JEE and could get my favourite subject Maths at IIT Kanpur – just the right distance away from home – I was understandably very excited.

I remember being one of the few students, and a girl at that, arriving all alone at IIT Kanpur to take admission because my mother had undergone a hysterectomy and was still confined to bed. ( I was an only child and she an only parent.) But I was made instantly at home in GH (“Girls” Hostel – though most there were grown up women) which I fondly recall as the friendliest place in IITK. Undergrads and Postgrads shared the hostel. Neera and Rama – our student Guides and two years our senior – were really warm and assured us that grades were not everything. The very slight ragging we had was fun, and from the start we had seniors like Shobha Madan and Amrita Tripathi to consult about getting adjusted to the tough, tense and competitive life of an IITKian, particularly as young women. Hostel life was all about desperate last minute “mugging” in “night out” sessions; leaving buckets of soaked clothes to gather fungus; special dinners with most of the paneer out of the “matter paneer” being finished in the first half hour; numerous cups of coffee on the banned electric heaters; and sneaking down the Post Graduate Hostel Hall 4 for a late night meal at 12 o clock. I can still remember the embarrassment when the waiter would shout “Ladies… 4 aloo paranthas” in an effort to locate us, while all heads turned! Our batch and the ones immediately next to ours made a motley group from very different backgrounds. There were Nandini and Anuja from Kenya; the youngest among us – my room mate – the conscientious and studious Uma; the very simple and hard working Lovely who being from a non-English speaking background had to struggle a lot; the casual scatter brained Mathematics wizard Anuradha; the philosophically inclined and very pretty Sudeshna, and the once cheerful Alka who after bravely combating an undiagnosed illness for years, finally, to our shock and sorrow, took her own life.

Most of us students had been used to being outstanding in our respective schools – here we were a drop in the ocean. We were repeatedly told that we were the “cream of the nation” – a mere 2000 selected from lakhs of students all over the country and exhorted to excel. Fortunately I had never been one for coming first, nor was that much an issue in my home so I settled in, concentrating on the subjects I liked and being content with CPIs between 7 and 8. But I know that for many “Chatur Ramalingam”s the first few semesters were agony. One student of our batch went to the extent of slashing his own finger as an excuse out of fear of failing a quiz. The competition was cut throat and in the last semesters, students would go to the extent of stealing placement invitations from each others’ mailboxes – even from those of good friends. Fortunately the atmosphere at GH however, was one of mutual co-operation. We were often in each other’s rooms doing “combined study” and copying “veteran practical logs” which while not very efficient in terms of grades perhaps, made for good friendships and helped keep all of us afloat.

There was something very American about IITK. Right from the names of the lanes in the campus – 36th street, 5th avenue etc and the slang (“quizzes” and “sems”) to the aspirations. Most of my batch did eventually go to the US for further studies, and most of the remaining opted for Management courses. IITK also imbibed the American hatred for anything even slightly “pink”. I remember being shocked to learn that it was because of my left leaning views, that despite my volunteering to be a Student Guide for the freshers, I was not allocated any freshers. Though there were a large number of students from non-English speaking backgrounds particularly among the “phuds” (Ph.D students) – the elitism of the institution was also painfully evident. Many students had to take
special English classes to keep apace. I clearly recall a classmate who was brilliant at Maths, but who had a difficult time because of his language problem.

But then, paradoxically, the same elite students of IITK voted for a mostly unlikely President of the Students Senate – Ganesh Bagaria, an avowed Gandhian who wore a white dhoti and khadaus (wooden sandals) to class, though he was studying Nuclear Physics. Students jubiliated when Ganeshji refused a dinner with the Director which was a ritual with the newly elected President, but invited him to his hostel instead! That was democracy for you and a memorable meal the Hostel had! Incidentally, in the stormy 70’s, IITK had had its own crop of left radical students. They unionized the mess workers and other karmacharis and also created the Students Senate. Despite many white-washings the letters painted on the highest water tank in the campus – “Political power flows from the barrel of the gun” using some ingenuous chemical combination would refuse to go away and were still faintly visible when we joined!

Life at IITK, if one wished to perform well was very tough – a grueling succession of weekly quizzes, assignments, midsems, endsems, with practicals thrown in. After a time this meant that learning ceased to be a leisurely, pleasurable, soaking-in of things in depth and became a mad rush. Not everyone could cope. Many had to join “slow pace” classes, repeat papers in the summer and there were hangers on from senior years in our classes. The very first semester I joined I remember being a part of a funeral procession for a dalit student who had committed suicide. He had needed to clear one paper for his degree but he “flunked” it with a narrow margin. In the silent march the grief and anger was palpable under the surface.

For those who decided to learn, rather than bother too much about grades however, our Mecca was he Library. It was really well stocked with a wide range of subjects, and is one of the most memorable things about IITK. Being air conditioned, it was also the most comfortable place in the hot summers of Kanpur and the library staff would go around waking up those who were taking a nap in its various nooks and corners! During exams the Library would be open till 2 am and was overflowing with students.

That is not to say that we did not have some really excellent teachers. Professors Kalyan Bannerji, UB Tewari, AP Shukla, HS Mani, KRK Gandhi……and so many others, who introduced us to the logical and yet marvelous, complex and intricate and yet rational and comprehensible worlds of physics, chemistry and mathematics. There were many many classes in which we were surprised when the hour bell rang. Our first two and half years were spent in common courses and we only entered our departments later in the fifth semester. While this made us, the “science” types a little impatient – we had to do Technical Drawing, Electronics and Material Handling classes which were geared for the Engineering students – and this meant we knew much less Mathematics than a B.Sc Maths student would know when they joined us for the two year M. Sc course – but looking back I think it was good for us to “muddy our hands” a bit. We made sand moulds, cut plastic, did woodwork, joined circuits and performed experiments in chemistry with all the others.

Prof VK Deshpande, then on the verge of retirement, took our first Physics 101 course. He was a flamboyant lecturer and excelled in the huge L-7 auditorium where all 250 of us would attend common classes. I remember some of us went to request him to take some special classes on some subject not included in the course – I think on Relativity – and we were fairly confident that most of our classmates would attend. When we assembled for the class we were 7 of us. He laughed at our embarrassment and invited us to his room where we had a very interesting discussion, but it was a lesson for me.

Women were a minority in IITK and a much looked down upon group as were “phuds” and “commies” (leftists). From day one we faced humiliating pranks – the air being taken out of our bicycles leaving us to a walk in the hot sun to our hostel which was predictably the furthest from the academic block; or being caricatured in the skits in the cultural festival; having nasty/ dirty notes left in our books. If you did well ….it was because you were a girl and the teachers had a soft corner for you. If you did badly….it was because girls were dumb. The sex ratio in IITK was extremely unhealthy. We were 8 girls among a batch of 250, and mind you, we were considered to be a huge batch of girls – in most batches there were just 2 or 3 girls. In our first semester the 8 of us decided to go and see the Friday night film in the auditorium. We were warned, but we thought we could handle it. In the film the moment a romantic scene was shown, the boys went crazy – catcalls, obscene comments, dances and forcing the operator to project the scene again and again. We walked out after 10 minutes. That was the last Friday night film any one of us saw in all the years we were there.

But once the girls did get back their own. Two girls in the two year M.Sc batch had gone to one of the Halls (I think Hall II) to watch their friends and class mates play tennis. Having done their B. Sc in a college they didn’t think there was anything special about this. But two boys deliberately paraded in the verandah of their upper floor rooms in their underwear in full view of the girls to embarrass them. The girls came back in tears, shocked and humiliated. We were having a GBM in the GH that day and spontaneously decided to take an unusual step. We all marched, maybe 70-80 of us, to Hall II and demanded to see the boys. It was remarkable the way IITK closed ranks against this women’s invasion! The boys were securely locked in and said to be missing, the Warden and Dean of Students arrived but they did not agree to our reasonable demand of a public apology. Later on, in an enquiry into the incident, the girls were told that if they wanted to make their way in the world, they should learn to “face” and “take such incidents in their stride”!

The notes and other unwanted attentions would usually stop after 2-3 semesters, but that was usually because the girls would have paired up with someone by then, and would be perceived as “going steady”, and thus “not available”. Interestingly the otherwise very conservative campus culture was quite liberal with couples who moved around together and visited each others hostels quite openly. Many lasting relationships originated there.

We women would be thoroughly amused by the antics of our male colleagues in the annual “Culfest” – the IITK cultural festival. We would watch suits being pressed and ties being borrowed hectically. Participants would be invited from the Womens’ Colleges – Miranda House, Lady Shri Ram etc, and their heavy make-up, “dressed to kill” attire and feminine wiles were rather looked down upon by us. Almost as a statement we would insist on being casually dowdy and wisecrack about these “Brainless Beauties” and tease our classmates who would have spent most of their pocket money taking these beauties out to lunch and dinner!

In our IIT course, we had to take an option from the humanities stream each semester. Though the usual attitude of the students to this was one of a “necessary evil”, actually we had some excellent teachers. Profs Mohini Mallik who taught Philosophy of Science, Vinod Jairath who taught Sociology particularly Development Studies, and Leelavati Krishnan who taught Psychology managed to make their mark on the students despite this resistant attitude, and helped in making them more sensitive, more all sided in their outlook and less technocratic.

One of the important features of IITK which is different from Delhi or Mumbai is its sheer isolation. Many IITKians would spend the entire 5 years without even visiting Kanpur city once except for the bus ride from the Railway Station. Kanpur – once a bustling textile town was, by the time we joined, a place where working class families were facing destitution. But at IITK we hardly heard any of this. In fact, most students and faculty were not even concerned with the plight of the construction labour working in the campus, whom we at some point tried to help to get their legal dues.

I joined the NSS at IITK and volunteered to teach in a nearby village and had my first taste of rabid casteism when dalit children did not or rather dared not attend a school we had unknowingly and naively started in an upper caste basti. Later, as a member of a Students Study Circle which was interested in social issues, I visited the Rallis factory in Unnao where workers were killed in a police firing. In this Study Circle, with say 8-10 students and a couple of faculty members, we would discuss serious social issues and those discussions were extremely significant in shaping my life. Two years after my graduation I joined a trade union first as a teacher and then a trade union activist. Today apart from this, I am also a lawyer in the High Court of Chhattisgarh taking up cases of labour, land acquisition and human rights violations.

But, while in IITK, straddling both worlds was a difficult task. One day some of us had gone to visit some flood affected villages and were on our way back to the Campus. I had an end sem exam that day and was extremely tense. We and a large number of villagers were waiting at the roadside for the bus. From a distance we saw it approach raising a huge cloud of dust. We all heaved sighs of relief and expectantly stood up with our all our bags in readiness. To our shock the bus just passed by. The villagers all said down patiently again. I was furious. When will the next bus come? Oh, it comes twice a day, the next one will be in the evening, I was told with equanimity. Needless to say I failed the exam and did a summer semester. But I never forgot that this was a daily reality for the resigned villagers.

Some of my best friends in IITK, apart from the members of our Study Circle, were the mess workers Ramashish and Shubhkaran who had a Cultural Team. I love music and participated with great enjoyment in their songs and plays which were often based on folk tunes and spoke of the hard lot of the working class and peasants. Once I had an occasion to educate my friends in the GH too. It was Special Dinner time and I was Mess Secretary. Some girls came up and started complaining that their Mess Bill was too much and it was because of pilferage by the Mess workers and even now they were pilfering food. Puran was the worker in charge at the Mess. A young, very dignified man, he was also co-operative to the girls when we had to keep extra plates in our rooms for those who were late. He would always enquire after our health or how our exams went. After every vacation greeting him was a part of arriving at GH. That day I went to the Mess and told Puran about the complaint of the girls. He had tears of anger in his eyes as he opened the kitchen door and showed me that his two young children were sitting on the floor having puris and kheer. Didi, I have given my share to them, how can I eat without them? In the next GBM we decided that for the Special Dinner, just as we could bring our guests, the Mess workers could also bring their families.

IITK in summers was hot, lazy, and relaxed. Usually students who stayed back to repeat courses had just a couple of classes each day. Some of us stayed back to read in the library or just to be with friends. I remember learning cycling – a must in our large Campus – the first summer with the inevitable falls and bruises since I had got quite worn out walking and trying to get lifts. Summers showed the other side of IITK for somewhere in the crevices of the high tension competitive life there was still space and scope for thinking and also being different. IITK also had its classical music lovers, maverick philosophers, rock bands, film buffs, study circles, and I am sure its fair share of druggies.

Our Campus was beautiful and sprawling and no mention of IITK can be complete with the huge army of langurs that lived there. Walking in the open air corridors that joined various academic buildings with each other we would see the langurs sitting on the parapets and swinging their legs in perfect imitation of students, occasionally triumphantly eating some goodie they had just snatched. Once when we were waiting outside our Department Head’s room in trepidation, suddenly a langur, who had apparently entered through the window, walked out of his door that was ajar, sending us into splits of laughter. It turned out that the Head was not there. One day, when I visited a friend’s room in Hall II with large windows that he had forgotten to close, we were horrified to find a langur sitting on his table squeezing out the last of a tube of shaving cream in sheer delight. Usually friendly and much pampered by the students, the langurs could get violent if their babies were touched, as I came to know from experience.

I loved Mathematics and still remember the sheer joy and philosophical challenge of grasping the concepts of pure mathematics that I learnt at IITK. I also learnt a lot about society, positive and also negative, and decided that I was not an academic. I feel that I have been able to best utilize the knowledge, skills and confidence I acquired in IITK in working with people today.

IITK did put us “through the mill” and give us a stamp of “quality”. Even today when people hear that one has graduated from IITK, there are looks of admiration and approval. But sometimes the magic doesn’t work. When in the year 2000, a full 16 years after passing out of IITK, I wanted to join a law course at the ripe old age of 40, I was told to get a Transfer Certificate and a Migration Certificate from IITK and also proof that I had passed my graduation with 50% marks. The IITK registry responded promptly, but it was a difficult job persuading the Ravi Shankar University at Raipur that I had passed my B. Sc. with more than 50%!
————————————————————————————————————————
For a compilation of more writings and reminiscences about the campus, we would like to draw your attention to a report published in 2012 on the IIT Kanpur Citizen’s Forum webpage. The report is a collection of articles contributed to the event, Democratic Traditions at IIT Kanpur: Learning from an Alternate History (Prof. Basant Sarkar Memorial Event).

Link to the site:
https://sites.google.com/site/iitkcfdevelopment/our-efforts/community
Link to the collection of articles:
https://goo.gl/jM4Npy

– Forum For Critical Thinking, IITK

Hall 13 mess and the impending challenges for students

In the coming academic session, a new boy’s hostel – Hall 13 – will accommodate all undergraduate first-year boys, estimated to be around 800 in number. Previously, these first-year students were distributed over four hostels – Halls 2, 3, 5, and 12. Effectively, this is a form of re-allocation – first-year students who had previously been accommodated in Halls 2, 3, 5 and 12, with their seniors are now all going to be moved to the new Hall 13. Since this is a new hostel, its mess is yet to start functioning, for which mess workers need to be employed. And as news of a new mess becoming operational is spreading among community members, the dangerous practice of such jobs being handed out on the basis of ‘contacts’/sifarish and heavy bribes (to the tune of Rs. 50,000 per job) is rearing its ugly head.

Why should we, the senior students be concerned about mess workers of Hall 13?

We, the senior students should be concerned about the emerging situation. For one reason, there will be only first year students in Hall 13 who will not have any clear notion of how things function in our campus. This allows undemocratic experiments and policies related hostels to be introduced, like selecting an HEC through interviews than through democratic elections. Notice that, in older halls of residences, policies like these would be challenged by experienced students. Once these policies are established in a new hall, the next in line would be other halls of residences. An example would be the VH case, where the institute implemented a major policy decision related to giving away the administration of VH to a private entity. After its implementation in the VH, the same system was introduced to be be implemented in messes through a PSPD model, which would have collapsed the existing robust mess system. The sustained efforts of students and community members ensured that the PSPD model is dormant for the moment. Another example would be the sexist entry rules implemented in GH tower. When there were attempts to introduce the same sexist rules and guidelines in GH 1, students resisted them and have managed to push them back for now. There again, it is because of experienced student’s efforts that little freedom is preserved. Thus, what is happening is Hall 13 is not just an issue related to a few workers. If left unchecked, these practices will have enduring consequences for the student community of the campus.

Present distribution of workers  

The table below provides the distribution of workers in Halls 2, 3, 5 and 12 which will get affected mostly. To get the complete picture, a thorough inquiry into the ground realities of other hostel messes needs to be conducted.

Hall Hall 2 Hall 3 Hall 5 Hall 12 Hall 13
Students (as proposed by COSHA for 2018-19) 334 370 480 525 800
Mess workers required @ 1worker for 11.25 students 30 33 43 47 72
No. of Mess workers required after adjusting for weekly off 34 38 49 54 83
Present number of mess workers 58 59 64 70
Excess mess workers 24 21 15 16 -83
Mess workers required after adjusting for absenteeism (@ 5%) 36 40 52 57 87
Excess mess workers 22 19 12 13

What we can do?

In the matter related to appointing mess workers in Hall 13, our experience shows that unless a rational process is placed, the present situation will lead to widespread corruption. A simple look into the present distribution of mess workers will reveal that, there is in fact a way to accomplish this. From the above data, it is clear that there will be 66 excess mess workers at the start of next semester, while Hall 13 requires 87 workers, making it easy to accommodate all excess mess workers from Halls 2, 3, 5 and 12 in the Hall 13 mess. The contractor would also benefit from having access to trained workers.

We have seen several reasons, besides the simplest one that if students are relocated, then required number of workers should also be relocated, for transferring the excess workers to Hall 13 mess. It’s we, who know how the system functions here, should be assisting the new students to know the democratic practices followed in the campus and to assimilate them to our tradition of meaningful collective activities.  As options for various course of actions to make sure that this will happen, first of all, this information should reach all students and various students body representatives. Students of Halls 2, 3, 5 and 12 need to discuss this among themselves and approach their respective HEC’s. HECs, while taking their wardens into confidence, should bring this to the notice of the administration (DOSA, ADHA etc) and make sure that a fair process is followed to employ the excess workers in Hall 13 mess. With enough support from COSHA and Student Gymkhana, the   administration can be convinced to concede this just and logical demand.  This will boost not only the solidarity and confidence among students, to unite for their basic rights, but will also make sure that the following do not happen at the beginning of next semester;

1: Corruption at mass level

2: Violation of various laws and exploitation of workers, including the excessive 14+ hours of working hours.

3: Converting Hall 13 as a place to implement various policies which will have adverse effects on the freshers and consequently, the student community.

We urge the student community to be vigilant and pro active so as to make sure that no new worker is recruited unless the existing workforce is rationally redistributed and in establishing the democratic space in Hall 13.

 

Forum for Critical Thinking, IITK

IIT का धोबी, ना घर का ना घाट का

पहले वे आये कम्युनिस्टों के लिए

और मैं कुछ नहीं बोला

क्योंकि मैं कम्युनिस्ट नहीं था।

फिर वे आये ट्रेड यूनियन वालों के लिए

और मैं कुछ नहीं बोला

क्योंकि मैं ट्रेड यूनियन में नहीं था।

फिर वे आये यहूदियों के लिए

और मैं कुछ नहीं बोला

क्योंकि मैं यहूदी नहीं था।

फिर वे मेरे लिए आये

और तब तक कोई नहीं बचा था

जो मेरे लिए बोलता।

मार्टिन नेमॉलर

1

इस संस्थान की democratically aware जनता, स्टूडेंट्स से जुड़े हर छोटे-बड़े फैसले में institue administration के साथ अपनी साझेदारी का दंभ भरती है| पर इन्हीं की नाक के नीचे कुछ ऐसा हो जाता है जो इनके रोज़मर्रा की जिंदगी को गंभीर रूप से प्रभावित करने वाला है , और ये कुछ कहने-सुनने या करने में असमर्थ दिखते हैं| लेकिन ऐसा हमेशा नहीं होता आया है, और ना ही हमें ऐसी प्रवृत्ति को पनपने देना चाहिए| पिछले कई मामलों में जैसे HC का मामला हो, या VH के workers का, student bodies की सक्रियता ने यह सुनिश्चित किया है कि छात्रों से जुड़े मामलों पर निर्णय लेने की प्रक्रिया में छात्रों की प्रत्यक्ष भूमिका बनी रहे|

बात हमारे कैंपस के धोबियों की है| संस्थान ने  28 मार्च 2018 को इन्हें एक नोटिस भेजा है कि 30 दिनों के भीतर इन्हें  कैंपस खाली करना पड़ेगा| जिस कैंपस में 3500-4000 (खासकर स्टूडेंट्स) लोग धोबियों पर कपड़े धुलवाने और प्रेस करवाने के लिए निर्भर हैं, वहां ऐसा फैसला लेना कहाँ तक सही है? वो भी छात्रों की राय लिए बगैर!

इस मामले में institute administration ने अपना पक्ष Vox Populi में छपे लेख के माध्यम से रखा है, जो आप यहाँ (http://voxiitk.com/iitk-home-no-more/ ) पढ़ सकते हैं| उनका कहना है कि चूँकि कैंपस के हर हॉल में वाशिंग मशीन की सुविधा मुहैया कराई जा रही है, इसलिए धोबियों की ज़रूरत अब कम हो गई है| संस्थान का कहना यह भी है कि रहने की अनुमति धोबियों की सिर्फ पहली पीढ़ी को ही थी, और उनकी मृत्यु के बाद उनकी अगली पीढ़ी को यहाँ रहने की अनुमति नहीं दी गयी है| संस्थान ने मौखिक रूप में यह आश्वासन दिया है कि वह धोबियों के पुनर्स्थापन हेतु जिला अधिकारी से बात कर रहे हैं, या कुछ धोबियों को हॉल में ही रहने का प्रावधान किया जाएगा| ये दोनों ही बातें आपस में विरोधाभास उत्पन्न करती हैं|

निर्वाक ने पिछले हफ्ते इस विषय पर पड़ताल की| हमारी पड़ताल में जो तथ्य उजागर हुए वह संस्थान के रुख से काफी विपरीत हैं| सबसे पहले हम इस आदेश का विद्यार्थी समुदाय पर प्रभाव देखते हैं| संस्थान ने अपनी नई योजना का “क्या” तो हमारे सामने रख दिया है , पर इसके “कब”, “कैसे”, “कहाँ” और “क्यों” पहलू अभी साफ़ नहीं है| “क्या” तो यह है की संस्थान विद्यार्थियों के लिए वाशिंग मशीन उपलब्ध कराएगी, और जिन विद्यार्थियों को कपड़े खुद से नहीं धोने हैं, उनके लिए हर हॉल में धोबी की व्यवस्था करेगी|  

अगर इन पहलुओं को समझ भी लिया जाये तो भी एक मूल प्रश्न बना रहता है: कैंपस से जुड़े मुद्दों पर कोई भी फैसला (जिससे कि कैंपस रेसिडेंट्स की रोज़मर्रा की ज़िन्दगी पर प्रभाव पड़ता है ) लेने से पहले प्रशासन  उनसे बात करना ज़रूरी क्यों नहीं मानता? धोबी जो सर्विस देते हैं उसके उपभोक्ताओं में छात्र समुदाय प्रमुख है, तो अब धोबी हटाए जायेंगे, उसके बजाय कोई नयी व्यवस्था आएगी; ऐसी बातों की पूर्व घोषणा और इन पर व्यापक चर्चा क्यों नहीं होती? अगर संस्थान के धोबी छात्रों को ये बात नहीं बताते और चुपचाप ये फरमान मान लेते, तो शायद ज्यादातर छात्रों को यह बात अगले सेमेस्टर तक पता भी नहीं चलती|  

और अगर उनके तरफ से अनदेखी है तो HEC, Senate, Gymkhana जैसी ‘डेमोक्रेटिक बॉडीज़’ इन मामलों में इतनी लाचार क्यों लगने लगती हैं? क्या इस Eviction notice के सम्बन्ध में एक विरोध प्रस्ताव (चाहे वो इस फैसले के नैतिक विरोध में हो या केवल इस बात के विरोध में की इसमें कैंपस समुदाय से सलाह क्यों नहीं ली गयी) या ओपन हाउस का आयोजन नहीं होना चाहिए? या, हम सब ‘due process’ का इंतज़ार करें?

संस्थान द्वारा प्रस्तावित कपड़ा धुलवाने की नयी व्यवस्था में काफी खामियां नज़र आती हैं| सबसे पहली बात की संस्थान इतनी सारी वाशिंग मशीनें उपलब्ध कैसे कराएगी और इनको लगाने और मेंटेनेंस का खर्च कौन वहन करेगा| साथ ही प्रति व्यक्ति बिजली और पानी के consumption में अनाप शनाप वृद्धि भी होगी, और इनके बढे हुए खर्चे किस पर थोपे जायेंगे? सोचने वाली बात यह भी है की क्या सभी IIT स्टूडेंट अपने अति व्यस्त schedule से इतना समय निकाल सकते हैं की वो अपने कपड़े खुद धो सकें?

इसके बाद आश्चर्य नहीं होगा अगर किसी ‘बड़ी कंपनी’ को टेंडर मिल जाये, और जो काम धोबी कर ही रहे थे वो ये कंपनी करने लगे| Local economy को सपोर्ट करने के ऐसे जो छोटे-मोटे तरीके हैं उनके लिए भी कोई space बचता नहीं दिख रहा| एक सीधी consumer-service provider रिलेशनशिप में middleman के घुसने से सर्विस चार्जेज में काफी बढ़ोतरी भी होगी|

2

अब बात करते हैं संस्थान में रहने वाले धोबी लोगों की जिनके रोजगार और आवास पर तलवार लटक रही है| दलित समुदाय से आने वाले ये धोबी यहाँ संस्थान में ही जन्में हैं और यहीं पर कार्यरत हैं| 60 साल में धोबियों की दूसरी-तीसरी पीढ़ी अब यहाँ पर स्टूडेंट कम्युनिटी की सेवा कर रही है| लेकिन धोबीघाट जाकर आप शायद दो पल को ये भूल जाएं की आप इस ‘merit island’ में खड़े हैं| प्राथमिक चिकित्सा एवं शिक्षा तो दूर, इनके पास एक शौचालय तक नहीं है | एक राष्ट्रीय महत्व प्राप्त संस्थान की चारदीवारी में लोग खुले में शौच करने को मज़बूर हों, इससे शर्मनाक बात संस्थान के लिए शायद हीं कुछ हो (Recently, IIT Kanpur adopted 5 nearby villages to mentor under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. – IITK Chronicle (Volume 1, Issue 4, July 2017))| एक धोबी को कुछ वक़्त पहले ऐसे ही खुले में शौच करते वक़्त एक सांड ने उठा कर फेंक दिया और HC ने उसका इलाज करने से मना कर दिया| अभी वो परिवार चिकित्सा के क़र्ज़ में डूबा हुआ है|

हालांकि संस्थान ने धोबियों पर अवैध कब्जेदारों का टैग लगा दिया है, और यही बात बीते साल दिसम्बर में एक अख़बार में छपी भी है| पर जो लोग कमरे, बिजली और पानी का किराया भर कर सस्ती दरों में मेहनत-मज़दूरी कर रहे हों, वो अवैध कैसे हैं? साथ ही आप यह भी जान लें की इन धोबियों (या इनके माता-पिता को) को इस संस्थान में स्वयं P. K .Kelkar ही बुलाकर लाये था, इस आश्वासन के साथ कि इन्हें संस्थान में काम और आवास मिलेगा| P. K .Kelkar की हैसियत IIT कानपुर में वैसी ही दिख रही है जैसी देश में गाँधी, अम्बेडकर इत्यादि की, जिनके स्मारक तो हैं पर उनके आदर्शों को कहीं भुला दिया गया है|   

बात यह भी है कि यह धोबी संस्थान से निकल कर करेंगे क्या, इसपर संस्थान का रुख साफ़ नहीं है| उपनिदेशक ने इनको रोज़गार और आवास प्राप्त कराने में मदद देने का आश्वासन तो दिया है पर ना ही कुछ लिखित तौर पर मौजूद है  और ना ही धोबियों अथवा विद्यार्थियों कोई rough plan of action बताया गया है| धोबी समुदाय में कई लोग 45-50 वर्ष की आयु के है, और इस उम्र में कुछ नया हुनर सीखना मुश्किल होगा और कहीं और धोबी का नया काम मिलना लगभग नामुमकिन|

इस मुद्दे पर संस्थान प्रशासन का रवैया गैर-लोकतान्त्रिक और मज़दूर विरोधी लगता है| निर्वाक की संस्थान से अपील है कि ऐसे मुद्दे जो कि छात्रों के जीवन से जुड़े हों उन फ़ैसलों में छात्रों की अहम भागीदारी बनाई जाएँ, और ऐसे मुद्दों के लिए ओपन हाउस रखें जाए| सवाल चाहे हमारे खाने का हो, हमारी नौकरियों का हो, या धोबियों को निकालने का| पिछले कुछ समय से संस्थान अपनी नैतिक ज़िम्मेदारियों से लगातार मुंह मोड़ता दिखाई दे रहा है| प्रशासन को कैंपस समुदाय के साथ संवाद को बढ़ावा देते हुए, एक आदर्श लोकतान्त्रिक माहौल तैयार करके कैंपस में रहने और काम करने वाले प्रत्येक व्यक्ति के लिए एक गरिमापूर्ण जिंदगी सुनिश्चित करने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध होना चाहिए|        

 

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