Himalaya and KB article

_posts/2023-05-16-interview-with-Mr-Solanki.md

@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ How many people understand from the depth of their heart that it is now a questi
 
   
 
-**Watch Out: A lot of us in some years are going to be in government or some corporations or something. What do you think governments and corporations can implement into this world?  **
+**Watch Out: A lot of us in some years are going to be in government or some corporations or something. What do you think governments and corporations can implement into this world?**
   
 
   

_posts/2023-05-24-best-they-doing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "The best they've been doing"
+category: bigstory
+author: "Aastha Khaitan, Khyati Joshi, Akshara Singh, Manasvi Bathula, Khushi Tomar, Shivanshi Arora, Gauri Garg,"
+tags: [wona,column]
+image: the-best-they-doing/cover.png
+excerpt: "The following article follows this article:<http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2021/12/the-best-we-could-do>
+An article for Himalaya bhawan coming up soon at:<http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2023/05/work-in-progress>"
+---
+
+Hostels are an indispensable part of any student’s life and the monumental amount of time spent in hostel rooms (begrudgingly or otherwise) have an enormous impact. Hostels, fondly referred to as bhawans, are the most frequented structures on campus. With an enormous number of residents comes an immense responsibility of their health, safety and general well-being. Like any other institution, our sanctuary of learning isn't immune to their fair share of challenges, with students encountering a plethora of hostel issues that are exceedingly important to address. 
+
+Watch Out! surveyed the girls hostel populace of IITR to gauge and understand the issues faced by them in their hostels and further segregated the issues for a deeper analysis. 
+![Respondents](/images/posts/the-best-they-doing/resp-stats.png)
+Our survey collected responses from 142 residents across all girl’s hostels and above are the proportion of respondents from each hostel.
+
+#### A MESS(Y) DILEMMA: Navigating the mess issues 
+Mess, one of the most quintessential areas of a hostel, often becomes a sentiment. It is in this spirit and sense that the mess be handled carefully, ensuring all residents get nourishing and sustaining food on their plates for every meal, sans questions asked. Leaving the utopian vision for a moment, after talking to the residents of the hostels, we realized that some serious issues did exist in the mess and/or its functioning which needed to be addressed. 
+![mess](/images/posts/the-best-they-doing/problems.png)
+
+Above are the issues faced by bhawan residents with the mess facilities.The most commonly complained about problems were the repetitive and similar items on the menu with very few healthy options.
+
+**“Mess menu set up is too heavy on stomach and there is hardly any option for people with dietary restrictions”**- A resident of SB
+
+More often than not, the quality of the food erratically degrades and residents are left with no option but to eat food from outside, which is quite unhealthy. Foreign particles are found in the food. It is very important that mess workers ensure complete hygiene while cooking and serving food.
+
+**“Many times the food contains dead insects or flies in it.”**-An SB resident quipped
+
+There are some snags in the way the mess operates too. During the rush hours everyday, residents have to wait for utensils to be washed again, or food to be restocked. This often leads to delay in reaching classes, notably during lunch time. Half of the utensils have food stains on them. It is expected that the utensils be cleaned properly with due checks because it is unhygienic otherwise in such large crowds. Students complained about the hand wash and water refill area not being cleaned regularly. They are, more often than not, reluctant to use it. 
+
+The ambience of the mess, especially in Kasturba Bhawan requires a revamp. Installation of a TV could be a good way forward. There's a poor ventilation system in the mess contributing to a stuffy environment inside. A major concern also pointed out was the uncovered waste bins in the mess. They lead to foul smell near the eating tables and dirty the surrounding areas. Rearrangement of food bins is an imperative requirement.
+
+The feedback collection system, especially regarding mess issues, is extremely black-boxed currently and there’s very little scope to know the actual numbers the council finally goes by to put certain items in the menu. For sweets, students are mostly only allowed one serving, most boys’ hostels face no such issue.
+
+In Kasturba Bhawan, there are no common equipments such as oven, induction etc. which is an essential requirement. In SB, even though these are available, they’re not cleaned frequently and are almost never in usable conditions.
+
+**“There should be atleast one refrigerator if not two for each floor of each block”**- Khushi Batheja, a resident of KB
+
+#### Bhawan Council Inputs-
+**In Sarojini Bhawan:**
+
+- Fines are imposed on the private agency that runs the mess whenever someone raises the complaint of insects being found in food, pesticides have been sprayed and insect killers have been installed as well.
+
+- When asked about the feedback mechanism used for mess issues, we were told about the existence of **grievance register** in the mess and complaint portal on the appetizer app which the students can use to get their concerns through to the council, but most students do not utilize these due to lack of awareness/feasibility of process and rather use the whatsapp group for the same, which isn’t ideal because it’s difficult to keep track of everything and they try to acknowledge as many issues as they can. 
+
+- There also exists a subcouncil group for making changes in the mess menu but only a couple people are active there out of 400.
+
+However, they’re trying their best to take consideration of people's concerns and encourage them to be a part of the menu-making process.
+
+**In Kasturba Bhawan:**
+- **Shortage of utensils** The council had ordered a new set of spoons after noticing that there was a shortage of spoons. But within a few weeks later, a shortage of spoons arose again. It is easy to take spoons in disguise as compared to plates. It’s the responsibility of students to return the spoons. New spoons were bought again but this way out isn’t always effective for financial reasons. 
+- **Cold food** If students report, the mess workers usually heat the food and bring it back.
+- **Dietary restrictions** Making inclusive food on a mass level is difficult. Usually, khichdi is provided when the menu item is bhature (oily food) and there is chapati everyday.
+- **Foreign particles** Convey it to the mess manager immediately. The council tries to find out the source and its scale. If there is some issue with the batch (of the source), the batch of food is replaced entirely.
+
+#### TECHNICAL TURMOIL: Navigating the technical issues
+
+Then come the issues with the technical facilities in the hostels. The students trying to manage the academic load, along with their personal development and personal projects often have to struggle with the “Limited or No Connectivity” message on their cisco apps, with LAN not working, and wifi range scarcely extending to their rooms. This is a widely common problem across all female bhawans.
+
+A resident from KB tells us, **“They don't even take care of the computers in cyber room many of them have very outdated window systems and dysfunctional mouse and keyboards and only one computer is good which is protected by a password that they never tell.”**
+
+#### Bhawan Council Inputs-
+**In Sarojini Bhawan**
+- The bhawan council is in regular touch with ICC about the installation process of wifi routers on campus, which has been going on as a two stage development- firstly on the institute level and secondly, on the bhawan level. Of stage two, several boys’ hostels have been fully equipped by wifi connectivity, unlike the girls’ hostels. This work has been long delayed due to lack of resources to be incorporated in terms of the equipment that are shipped from China due to dip in manufacturing during COVID. The council is always told the work will restart in a month, but it never does.
+- A SAC technical member keeps all bhawans technical secretaries updated on all developments. Many tickets are raised for the faulty LAN, there's only one fixed process for contacting the ICC. They try to directly contact ICC staff for immediate assistance within half an hour for the 4th yearites that face issues with the internet. Sometimes birds make a nest in the LAN boxes because of SB’s old infrastructure, but that has been resolved by covering the open boxes.
+
+**In Kasturba Bhawan**
+- **“Limited or No Connectivity”** - Wi-Fi routers were being installed but ICC had stopped the installation suddenly saying that it would first happen in Himalaya Bhawan. Only after that, installation will resume in Kasturba Bhawan. They didn’t give a clear answer as to why this action was taken. Regarding LAN, almost all bhawans are facing issues with it because of some maintenance issues by ICC. The only thing students can do is raise a ticket or talk to the Technical Secretary who’ll direct their complaint to ICC.
+- **Cyper room computers** - This comes under maintenance issues. The initial plan was to shut down these systems completely and convert the cyber room into a study room as most students use their own laptops.
+
+#### RECREATION (with) ROADBLOCKS: Navigating the recreational issues
+
+The gym rooms in the hostels either don't have equipment or the equipment present is dysfunctional. There are no gaming rooms either for recreational purposes of students, much needed after hectic days. 
+
+#### Bhawan Council Inputs-
+**In Sarojini Bhawan**
+- The gym is functional to a satisfactory degree, the biggest issue being the accommodation. They have to remove equipment and put bedding for guests in gym and TV rooms to stay during fests like Cognizance. However, the equipment is working and was serviced a few months ago. 
+- SB is a very old hostel and daily maintenance is a big issue because of which, gaming room is more of a secondary project.There are less residents so the bhawan fund is less(bhawan fund is provided on a per head basis), the council often struggles to meet basic maintenance costs due to this.
+
+**In Kasturba Bhawan**
+- The equipment in the gym room is being taken care of, it may take some time and moreover, more funds to replace or get them repaired.
+
+#### BEYOND THE OBVIOUS: Tackling the miscellaneous issues
+
+One of the most widespread issues, common to all hostels is the hostel infrastructure. To accommodate more girls in a limited number of hostels, the double sharing rooms have been converted into makeshift triple sharing rooms. The lack of space in rooms and privacy is at its peak in the triple sharing rooms of SB and KB, with barely any room to walk or properly arrange the furniture.
+Even with new beds and tables provided to some of the residents, mostly find themselves sleeping on wobbly beds, and using broken tables and pretty uncomfortable chairs. Everyone has their sleep and work schedules managed accordingly, and it gets highly distressing when three people with varied schedules are living together. The following chart shows the issues faced with the maintenance facilities.
+
+![maintain](/images/posts/the-best-they-doing/maintenance.png)
+
+Often, residents of the girls hostels have seen various male workers roaming around unsupervised. 
+
+Students have to put their names along with other details in a register if they exit the hostel after 12:00 a.m. Students pointed out that this is a discriminatory rule as their male counterparts don’t have to do so. 
+
+
+**“For boys there is no such criteria for attendance then why it is mandatory for girls , why discrimination in IIT on the basis of gender?”** - Devika Gautam, Civil 1y
+
+**“With 2 fans and three people in a room, it gets highly suffocating in the summer season, and the person with the middle bed gets no air from either of the fans.”**  - Astha Jain, a resident of KB 
+
+Moreover, in KB, the number of lifts currently available are insufficient and the ones present are not maintained well causing them to often go out of service. This causes a lot of problems to bhawan residents especially the ones residing on the upper floors. Moreover, constant construction causes a lot of noise and dust leading to the bhawan residents being constantly disturbed.
+
+#### Bhawan Council Inputs-
+**In Sarojini Bhawan**
+- On triple sharing, they agreed it is the worst issue with girls hostels. Previously all their rooms used to be either single or double sharing rooms, and since the last two years only, post-COVID the rooms have been converted to triple sharing. They mentioned they're trying for a separate cyber room so that during fests people have spaces to work in.
+- SB being a girls hostel they said they have to be extra protective and caring due to an incident that occurred a few years ago without compulsory register entry being there. This rule was brought in to increase the accountability to the parents who are extremely concerned about the safety for their children after midnight.
+- SB has CCTV cameras installed everywhere hence safety within the bhawan is ensured.
+- **On Transparency:** General Body Meetings are held and messages are circulated in bhawan groups, they are not held periodically but as and when an issue arises.
+
+**In Kasturba Bhawan**
+- Since the number of rooms are limited, and the number of girls are more in number, conversion to triple sharing was necessary. The only thing that can happen is at the administrative level with the suggestions being taken into account.
+- The total bhawan strength currently is 854. A-Block has 334 single occupancy rooms, while C-Block has 230 double occupancy rooms out of which 91 are triple occupancy as of now and 139 are double occupancy.
+- As the rooms were converted to triple sharing, not all furniture was changed according to it, since the old furniture can’t be discarded. 
+- Usually a female worker is sent whenever there are male workers working , but the students sometimes take the workers with them for their problems without communicating. But as soon as a complaint is raised, it is handled immediately. Moreover, the LAN preparation is a long term work and thus it is not possible to assign a female worker to them at all times.
+- Mostly when the maintenance like white-washing is going on, prior information is given to students about it and the presence of male workers is intimated but repairing LAN is a sudden thing and thus workers come without much prior notice.
+
+#### FROM DRIPS TO DIS(REPAIR): Navigating the maintenance issues
+
+There are certain universally established basic needs of a human being to survive. Water could easily top this list, among many other things. In hostels, we’re all at the mercy of water coolers for this vital need of hydration. These water coolers are stationed right at the mouth of the washrooms, and are often found to have choked drains beneath the water hoses. Plus there’s really no way of knowing whether the purity filters are working or not. During the freezing cold winters of roorkee, it is bone chilling to have to drink cold water, due to there not being availability of warm drinking water on any floor-albeit the one single RO purifier unit in the visitors room, which hardly ever functions properly despite being the single RO unit in the whole hostel.
+
+Talking about another vital amenity, the washrooms, we repeatedly found there to be quips about problems like- unavailability of handwash in the washrooms on several days, infrequent/improper cleaning of the washrooms as compared to the amount of people using it in a day. The mugs provided in the washrooms are also never cleaned and have fungus/algae growing in them which is mildly nauseating, to say the least. There was a lack of availability of warm water which is a quintessential need specially during winters. 
+
+**“I am so tired of the dirty washrooms in our wing. God knows how many times I have just ignored the need to go till I reach LHC or the library. Or, hell, even another wing. But, honestly, I am too lazy for that half the time.”**- a resident of SB
+
+**“The time of cleaning washrooms is not specified.”** - a resident of KB
+
+**“No hose or tissue available in western washrooms which leads to dirty seat”**
+
+**“The mugs in toilets should be replaced, they are extremely dirty and unusable, the stands keeping hand washes too are very dirty, no dusting done of the corridor railings or any other area other than floors.”**
+ -Astha, a resident of KB
+
+**Water coolers** being placed right at the mouth of washrooms in all the girls hostels is indeed one of the biggest architectural mysteries of the millennium. This curious placement has been largely inconvenient for the residents who suffer water borne diseases and dehydration.
+
+**“Water cooler is just outside washroom and that is really unhygienic”** -a resident of KB
+
+We also found many **furniture-related** issues in the bhawans, most common being the lack of adequate cloth drying stands and the absence of essential equipment like refrigerators and inductions in bhawans. 
+
+**“KB groundfloor aquaguard is not cleaned and the visitors room lift is not cleaned regularly. There is a lot of garbage under the stairs area in ground floor”**- Shreya Bhagat, a resident of KB
+
+
+**“No proper pest control system. We had mouse, and termites in our room. No proper action was taken. No induction, unclean fridge”**- Nikita, a resident of KB
+
+**“Washing machines in the laundry room should be cleaned frequently because everyone is using it and it is unhygienic and can cause skin diseases. My clothes sometimes come out to be dirtier after the wash.”** - a resident of KB
+
+
+
+#### Bhawan Council Inputs-
+**In Sarojini Bhawan**
+- Due to the bhawan being the oldest, all the washrooms need renovation but it is a very time consuming process and it is hard to find an optimal time that causes minimal disturbances to the residents due to the hostel being hybrid ( students from PhDs, BTech first and fourth years all live in SB).
+
+**In Kasturba Bhawan,**
+- **Handwashes** - Refilling of handwashes is a new concept that was imposed recently so there isn’t much clarity as to where the funds for this come from. Students can bring their own handwashes. 
+- **Unclean washrooms** - They’re cleaned in the morning and the hand wash area is cleaned once again sometime in the day. It is the responsibility of students to maintain basic hygiene and not leave the washrooms too dirty.
+Water coolers - They are cleaned once per week/two weeks. If any complaint is received, concerned people are informed immediately. Students wash fruits at the water coolers which is one reason why they get dirty. The cleaners do their job regularly, but students don’t maintain them properly.
+- **No warm drinking water in winters** - This is a financial issue. 
+- **Not enough refrigerators** - No such complaints were received about the number of refrigerators being less. Complaints about items being stolen were received and cameras were installed to deal with this. A rule of maximum 1 week storage of items has been imposed which students must try and follow.
+- **No microwave and induction** - No particular student can take responsibility in case the microwave or induction is damaged, and hence we cannot leave them unattended. Moreover, there is a lack of common space between A block and C block to keep these equipment. Although, we are trying for the canteen to be shifted ( this is still unsure) and if a common space is found,we will look upon this issue. 
+- **For events** - Complaint has been raised regarding this but it may take some time. Cyber room might be converted into a study room so it will be okay except during fests.
+
+#### DOSW’S DESK
+
+To gain some clarity and proper understanding of funding available to the hostel councils and how they are managed to meet the needs of the residents, WO! interviewed the Dean of Students’ Welfare, Professor M.K. Barua. 
+
+One of the primary sources of funding for the hostels is the plan grant, which is approved by the Dean of Students’ Welfare (DOSW) at the beginning of the financial year. Along with this fund, each bhawan receives an amount of Rs. 500 per resident on a semesterly basis. Firstly, Rs. 200 per resident is derived from the gymkhana fee charged from the students. This portion ensures that a portion of the students' contributions directly benefits the hostel residents. Secondly, Rs. 300 per resident is allocated as a washing allowance, which supports the provision of essential laundry facilities for the residents. In addition to the plan grant, the bhawan councils also get additional funds by providing accommodations to guests during Cognizance, Thomso, and other events. To ensure flexibility in meeting the funding needs, the Bhawan councils have the freedom to approach the DOSW for further funds at any point in time through the Chief Warden. If there are small funding requirements, they can be issued from the DOSW office as needed. Maintenance works that require substantial amounts of funds are funded by the Dean Infrastructure’s Office.
+
+The autonomy in fund utilization is a significant aspect of the management process. The bhawan councils, in collaboration with the Chief Warden, have complete autonomy in how they allocate and spend the funds. This autonomy enables them to make decisions based on the specific needs and priorities of their respective hostels. It allows for flexibility in organizing events and funding initiatives to enhance the hostel experience for the residents. To support the celebration of Bhawan Days, the DOSW has recently increased their contributions from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 per bhawan. Additionally, the number of official guests has been reduced from 500 to 52 to reduce the financial burden on the councils. Bhawan councils have the authority to determine whether they want to charge students to fund the Bhawan Days, providing them with the freedom to make decisions based on the preferences and financial considerations of their respective hostels.
+
+In terms of transparency, the DOSW maintains regular contact with the General Secretary Hostel Affairs to stay informed about the issues faced by the bhawans. This collaboration serves as a platform for discussing and addressing the concerns raised by the hostel councils. Bhawan Council meetings, which are presided over by the Chief Warden, provide a forum for the councils to discuss their urgent requirements and concerns. During these meetings, the councils compile a list of their specific needs, which is then communicated to the DOSW for further action. Once the list of requirements is received by the DOSW, the necessary funds are released promptly to address the identified needs. This streamlined funds release process ensures that the bhawan councils can undertake necessary initiatives and address the challenges they face effectively.
+ 
+The DOSW also emphasized the importance of Student Council Meetings; these serve as a platform for the bhawan secretaries to meet with the General Secretary. They provide an opportunity to discuss concerns, share ideas, and collaborate on finding solutions to enhance the hostel experience. However, the DOSW has pointed out the lack of such meetings in the recent past, highlighting the need for increased engagement and communication among the stakeholders.
+
+Furthermore, the importance of addressing improvements within the hostels was recognized. For instance, the requirement of girls' washrooms in all boys' hostels. This initiative ensures that girls visiting boys' hostels have access to dedicated washroom facilities, promoting their comfort and privacy. It was informed during the interview that an additional female guard would be soon stationed to enhance security measures within the girls' hostels, preventing unsupervised access by male workers. The DOSW is actively looking into this matter and will take the necessary steps to ensure that the hostels maintain a safe and secure environment for all residents.

_posts/2023-05-24-work-in-progress.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Work in Progress"
+category: bigstory
+author: "Aastha Khaitan, Khyati Joshi, Gauri Garg,"
+tags: [wona,column]
+image: work-in-progress.png
+excerpt: "The following article follows this article:<http://watchout.iitr.ac.in/2023/05/best-they-doing>"
+---
+
+#### Introduction
+Himalaya Bhawan, the third Girls' Hostel in IIT Roorkee, was established to accommodate the increasing number of girl students on campus. Whilst the supernumerary seats did good to the females by allowing them to fully utilize these institutional opportunities, the campus wasn't prepared to host them all. The existing two Bhawans, Kasturba Bhawan and Sarojini Bhawan, are the two older girls’ hostels of the institute. However, owing to the sudden surge in the number of girls to be accommodated immediately after COVID, the rooms in these two bhawans had to be partly converted to triple sharing rooms as a temporary solution, and they have been running over-capacity for 5 years. Finally, after reusing the same excuses for over 2 years, the institute decided to be cognizant of the cramped living conditions the girls had been forced into- and began construction of a new hostel Himalaya Bhawan, located behind the new Mathematics Dept.. It was expected to be fully ready for use by the end of 2022, or so they said. 
+The new hostel can house approximately 800 students, distributed over 4 blocks. Right now 260 girls (from PhD, Mtech, MBA and MSc programs) have already been shifted there, while the remaining parts of the hostel are still under construction. 
+It is truly perplexing that despite being a compelling, time-bound issue, the Bhawan is taking so long to go under full operation. Watch Out! Decided to talk to all involved parties- the residents, the council, the Administration to assess the situation; and what we now present is a timeline of events as they occurred, and what the residents have been silently going through all this while. 
+
+#### Who all were shifted to HB and in what setting?
+##### ~Into the last few months of 2022
+Around October 2022, with the influx of the new batch of B.Tech girls in Sarojini, close to 125-130 girls belonging to PhD, MSc, MBA and some from Mtech programs (previously living in Sarojini) **were to be** moved to the newly made Himalaya Bhawan. However, it wasn't ready enough to host new residents. So, the then Dean of infrastructure, signed on the promise that the new hostel would be ready by the start of 2023. Taking his word, those hundred or so girls were shifted to Himgiri Apartments IITR for 2 months. Himgiri Apartments being located outside the campus led to problems of its own. Towards the end of December, when Himalaya wasn’t anywhere close to completion; the authorities sped up the making of 1-2 blocks at least, enough to move the Himgiri girls to Himalaya by January as promised. The word was kept, but at what cost? Making students live with constant construction noises and all other problems that are associated with ongoing work is not a trade-off the administration of IITR should’ve made. 
+
+##### “This bhawan is still under construction and some issues are hence unsolvable” 
+##### ~The response often received by the concerned students, January 2023
+
+As corroborated before, the residents were asked to occupy one block of the Bhawan while the remaining three blocks were still under construction. To add to it, none of the basic necessities other than the rooms and washrooms had been mobilized by then. The washrooms had some glaring issues, although it was next to impossible to identify and solve them due to ongoing construction in the vicinity. One primary example highlighted by the residents was about the erratic water supply and problematic water lines to the washroom. It was, indeed, an extremely difficult issue to cope with everyday; but upon talking to the Bhawan council, in an attempt to understand the root cause for the delay in addressing this, a need for mutual understanding between the residents and the council was seen. The council told us that despite calling a plumber to check for the issue, it was extremely tough to zero in on the issue because the other 3 blocks under construction were hampering a complete diagnosis of the matter and establishment of a permanent solution. Moreover, areas surrounding the Bhawan too had ongoing construction work, which complicated things further. This issue required a shared understanding between the residents and the council members about the underlying blockages caused by ongoing construction. The gap between the parties seemingly created greater disparity. More directly speaking, this situation mostly also applied to other problems in the Bhawan, in context of the living conditions of the residents, thus established here. The following article will be presented keeping in mind that the above facts are reinforced fairly. 
+
+##### Work in progress, hmm?
+##### ~January 2023- Mid March 2023
+
+
+#### Mess issues 
+The new occupants of Himalaya Bhawan had to face a new complication. In January 2023, although they had been allotted rooms in the hostel, the hostel authorities had made no provision for a functioning mess. The Bhawan didn’t have the necessary licenses for mess functioning due to delays from Admin side, neither were the other preparations ready. As a workaround, it was decided that the food for the residents will be brought in from Azad Bhawan for every meal. Whilst this was a pretty good temporary solution, the same situation continued well into March. The residents were absolutely fed up with the daily delays in food arrival, food being cold, quality not up to the mark and other issues inherently accompanied with transporting food from another mess. Since only limited food could be brought in at a time, the food finished up before the mess timings ended, and people coming later often didn't get to have a meal in the mess. Especially on Special dinner days, the food would always finish up very early and take long periods of time to refill. This mostly occurred because the Azad mess was unable to make a ballpark estimate of the food requirement, Himalaya being a newly established Bhawan. The situation was overall very shabbily handled and became a daily nuisance.
+
+
+*“Even though the timing is 7:30-10, the food gets over by 9:30 on most days. Even if we wait for it to arrive from Azad, it takes them ABOUT 20 mins to bring it over to our mess and waiting for so long each meal leads to frustration."*
+
+Bhawan inhabitants demanded a change in the way the mess was being handled, but no quick action was taken.
+Moreover, since Azad made the food, the residents of Himalaya didn't have much say in deciding the mess menu. There was a lack of healthy breakfast options.
+
+*“Breakfast is not at all healthy. Maggi, pasta, bread pakoda, fried/oily items, junk food should Not be served as breakfast”*
+
+During breakfast, the residents complained that they used to get only one item out of banana/butter/egg. This greatly restricted them and no reason was given for this arrangement too.
+In the mess seating area, no hand wash basins were provided. The infrastructural facilities of the mess were not good enough and caused daily annoyance to those living there.
+
+*“The food quality is fine, but they don't wash utensils well. There’s no proper mess in Himalaya, and the food comes from Azad. So there's a lot of delay in transport of food from there to the Himalaya mess. Especially on days they have chicken, we have to wait for over 20 mins for them to refill containers.”*
+
+*"They don't wash utensils properly. We can see white residue on plates and sometimes even tea leaves are found in washed glasses."*
+
+#### Maintenance issues
+There are certain extremely necessary utilities one needs to fulfill daily living activities. Access to a clean, functioning washroom with the necessary bathroom fittings and continuous water supply is something that is paramount. Sadly, the occupants of the newly made Himalaya Bhawan were deprived of most of these. They had to use the barely cleaned washrooms which almost always had erratic water supply. 
+
+*“Aunties dont use cleaning brushes and Harpic to clean toilets. They just put water everywhere and wipe it with a mop. I've seen pee and period stains on toilets even after several cleanings. bathrooms aren't cleaned properly.”*
+
+
+The water supply used to stop a lot of times for the entire night; and would resume only much later the next day. In such situations, the girls had to go to other wings in the middle of the night to use washrooms, causing severe inconvenience.
+Moreover, there was no provision for a separate wash basin for washing utensils; leading girls to use the same basins for washing their hands and for utensils. This clogs the pipelines and overall keeps the basin dirty, making it tiring for the cleaning lady too. 
+
+*“We don't have a separate space to clean the utensils. It is unhygienic to wash basic utensils in the wash basin area in washrooms. So, at least one sink should be provided on each floor, for washing utensils and such stuff. “*
+
+The washrooms didn't have proper geysers inside the bathing stalls. A common geyser was installed for the entire washroom and that caused problems in the winters since one bucket of warm water is rarely sufficient.
+
+The drinking water situation too didn't bring much respite to the residents. Despite complaining about the unclean water from the water coolers, no real step was taken to solve it. The residents continued to look for alternate ways to get something as elemental as purified, accessible drinking water. Water coolers were also not cleaned on time and food leftovers clogged the water cooler drains. There was an imminent need for a strict cleaning schedule of the coolers. This problem had been explicitly told to the supervisor multiple times, but no satisfactory move was seen to solve it. When the issue inflated to a level that the girls faced actual health problems, and yet nothing was done to address it; rage among residents against the Bhawan authorities was justified.
+
+
+*"The main problem is regarding the water purifier. Water literally tastes like cement here. On boiling the water cooler water first, there were white sediments in our kettle. The given purifier doesn't work at all. So I go to the hospital to fill my bottles which has a proper RO and a purifier, hence tastes better. Many girls complain of having abdominal problems because of such unclean water in their own hostel."*
+
+*“Installing proper water purifiers (RO+UV), as the water from our purifiers have high amount of calcium, consuming which may lead to serious health problems”*
+
+There were multiple other smaller problems faced by the residents, which should’ve been immediately addressed.
+
+*“For the entire wing floor, there is only one small dustbin for all waste. There should be separate dustbins for food waste, sanitary waste and dry waste etc. to maintain hygiene on the floor.”*
+
+These demands weren’t something extra that the residents were demanding for a comfortable stay there. It was something duly expected of any decent living area. The authorities should’ve actively interjected whenever there were such crucial issues, and responded accordingly. Residents had also mentioned that their electrical complaints weren't looked into at times, nor did they receive any heads up on the status of completion of their registered complaint. This indicated a lack of interest and/or improper communication, which is very troublesome especially when the hostel is already under construction.
+
+#### Technical and other miscellaneous issues
+A proper WiFi/ LAN connectivity was extremely necessary for the students living there. However, the LAN ports’ provisions in the room weren't functional yet. Neither was the WiFi good enough to rely on. Work was often interrupted due to irregular internet connection, and complaints regarding the same were shoved away with a “WiFi connection is unstable in other Bhawans too, we can’t really do anything about it”, and the good ol’ “the Bhawan is under construction”
+
+*‘This corner of the campus doesn't have a network. Or else very poor network and even then the Wifi situation hasn't been sorted. Every now and then wifi disappears, we raise tickets with ICC, they fix it then they mess up again.
+The power system/grid fluctuates a lot here. They still haven't stabilized that so the UPS gets disturbed’*
+
+For recreational purposes, the Bhawan severely lacked any sort of respite. There was, (and still is) no sitting room or common lounge where people could have meetings or just casually interact with one another. Common rooms like study room, cyber room, etc. were not available.
+Some other comments that the residents made on miscellaneous issues are:
+
+*“Girls have to make a register entry at the hostel gate after 12:00 a.m.”*
+
+*"Because ours is a new hostel, we don't have any facilities like a stationery shop, canteen, fruit shop etc; while other girls' hostels have parlors too. We're missing those basic facilities. Nearest canteen to us is Govind Bhawan and even that's quite far away. During exams, they couldn't go there for late night snacks because GB being a boys hostel restricts entry to girls post 12am."*
+
+*"Only half of the hostel has been made, 2 wings are still under construction. We hear a lot of loud noises all through the day and it's really difficult to study for MTEs. Moreover, it leads to so much dust coming into the rooms. They told us in January that construction work will be over in 3-4 months; but it's already March end and I don't see any major progress."*
+
+#### Reorganisation & the making of a new Bhawan Council
+##### ~Mid-March 2023 onwards
+
+Around mid-March, a new Bhawan council was formed, and they tried hard to reorganize, arrange and get things up and going in the Bhawan to the point of normal functioning. There was finally a hiatus in the chaotic life of the Bhawan occupants. 
+The council mobilized all available resources, sometimes by pulling a string or two; to ensure comfort to the residents. We talked to the new council members in April’23 to gauge their side of the situation, what it took to organize an undeveloped Bhawan, and the blockages that continue to remain.
+
+**-Via the Mess Secy, Himalaya Bhawan**
+
+1. **On managing the makeshift mess, & the food that continues to come from Azad Bhawan.**
+We’re well aware that this arrangement of food being transported from another mess to ours thrice a day is bound to cause problems, and was supposed to be a temporary solution. But the mess area, being under construction, is not usable at the moment. We are hence using our canteen area as a makeshift mess. Moreover, we haven’t been granted the fire regulations safety go-ahead from the admin, and unless we are handed over the mess area, we can't make food in the bhawan. A roti-making machine was brought in and installed, ensuring that the occupants at least got warm rotis, while the other food was still being brought from Azad. 
+As for a permanent solution, the admin has told us that we’ll be permanently given our mess by the end of May, after which we can make permanent and better arrangements for food. 
+We do understand that it’ll be 5 months that the occupants are living with this, but with a part of the building being under construction, we too are puzzled about a solution to this.
+*“The food coming from Azad leads to delays often caused by slow transportation. This becomes unacceptable if it happens daily.”* This issue did exist prior to March, however, we have now organized these things better; calculated the exact requirements of the Bhawan so that food shortage and wastage is minimized. On non-veg days and special dinner days too; we have estimated an approximate inflow of students to accordingly cater to the needs on those days.
+Moreover, I have chalked out the entire transportation plan for the food with the Azad mess authorities to ensure that food reaches Himalaya on time. The delays seldom occur now. We also sat down to chalk out the timings at which the food must be ready in order to reach Himalaya before the start of mess time- because of this Azad also had to make some adjustments. 
+Regarding the food getting cold, we now have a heating system in place, so the incoming food is first heated before it's served.
+
+2. **On the food quality and other logistics.**
+*“Food quality is fine but the menu is repetitive, and the utensils are unclean.”* Earlier, students weren’t able to give feedback about the food menu since there was no contact between the Azad mess and the students. We have now started using the mess doors as our temporary notice-board; where we stick Bhawan and specially mess related notices. Recently I put up a QR Code there that links to a google form that takes in the residents’ feedback regarding any issues with the food or the menu. We then compare the feedback from both messes since a common menu has to be prepared. One shortcoming is that incase of clash of interests, Azad mess isn't that accommodating to our needs and usually doesn't change the items. I can’t really argue with them on it since we’re the ones who need their help. 
+Breakfast is now healthy, and we have restricted the amount of fried items, and maggi etc have been completely removed from the morning menu. Thus, each complaint is paid heed to and acted upon.
+
+3. **On the existing makeshift mess and its infrastructural problems.**
+Regarding mess infrastructure, makeshift basins have been made using standing water tanks. Soap is also kept nearby and that's the most ideal temporary solution we could see.
+We’re in talks about opening a night canteen of sorts that’ll keep packed food until we can get fire safety standards and can cook hot food there. It will ensure that during exams, girls don't have to go to other bhawans for snacks. The tender for the same has been received and we’re actively looking into it. 
+
+**-Via the Bhawan Secy, Himalaya Bhawan**
+
+1. **On the maintenance issues of the hostel amidst the construction work.**
+I’ll address all issues one by one. Starting with drinking water- water coolers are being cleaned properly, and there's a thorough check up. Right now, based on my check 4 days ago, each and every cooler of the Bhawan has been cleaned, and I have been ensuring that it happens every week regularly.
+As for the availability of warm drinking water, a list for the requirement of warm water dispensers has been sent to DoSW a month ago, since this is a hostel that’s under construction- it is bound to lead to a few delays. 
+Water pipe installation has been done in one block, but the other still has some construction work left. Until that’s done, we can’t really solve this issue.
+The water purifier installation issue follows the same blockage, of the list of requirements already sent to the admin. This was part of the list of urgent requirements sent by us.
+One additional point I would like to highlight is that all the pipeline connection related problems will see some delays, because two blocks are under construction and thus additional line installations cannot be made unless the basic ones have been made in the other blocks. The sequential nature of the construction work and delays associated with it is also a roadblock to which we don't see a solution at the moment. 
+Regarding the washrooms and their cleaning- I have been regularly checking the cleaning of washrooms, and they’re now cleaned 2-3 times a day. They're also cleaned with proper liquids and I have ensured that there is no mess up here. I make sure that the bathrooms have undiluted hand wash for each floor, and it is refilled timely. 
+The problem of a separate geyser for each bathing stall and the fitting of a basin for cleaning utensils cannot really be addressed currently since that also requires setting up new water lines. We have spoken to the plumbers and the work will be done once a certain level of work has been finished in the rest of the Bhawan. One geyser for the entire washroom was put up as a temporary solution keeping in mind the harsh winters of Roorkee. 
+Moreover, I am well aware that the residents have complained about no clothes stands being available, the need to access the terrace to dry clothes, unavailability of mirrors in the room, or a common mirror in the bhawan. And for this too, I’ll reiterate, that all these requirements have been considered and are already included in the list of needs sent to the Admin; we’re just awaiting a yes from their end.
+
+2. **On the time taken to resolve residents’ complaints.**
+Since this is a massive hostel that is too undeveloped currently, it makes it difficult to identify and solve such problems. We have called the engineer to look into the matter each time there was a complaint, but many times it has happened that even after inspecting for more than an hour, it wasn't possible to identify the issue and there was a good chance that it was caused by the partly constructed building. I have tried my best to also revert back to the complainant after the technician visited the site.  
+Regarding the LAN and WiFi connectivity issues, almost every time a complaint has been made, we have made sure that it gets resolved. We have also talked to ICC to ensure this issue does not repeat.
+
+3. **On the male workers entering the Bhawan premises unaccompanied by female workers.**
+Multiple girls had complained about this, so we started making sure that a female worker from the Bhawan accompanies the male workers at all times. However, sometimes it is difficult to track if someone enters the hostel late at night after the working hours of the female workers; because nearby areas of the Bhawan are also under construction and they aren't subject to limited working hours. One night I received a complaint about a male worker being spotted inside the Bhawan. I myself went to assess the situation and later found out that he belonged to the other construction site. However, we are still trying to curtail the complete entry of male workers unless they are accompanied by someone from the Bhawan.
+4. **Additional note:**
+This Bhawan is under construction. We hear of issues faced by the Bhawan residents almost everyday, but most of those are not in our hands, it is something that goes along a site under construction. One more major pain point is that there’s another ongoing construction behind our hostel premises, probably the extension to VK. That adds to our problems and makes it even more difficult to identify and solve them. This is something the IITR admin should understand and take rapid action. The residents should also acknowledge this fact that we are actually trying to help them but some things really are out of our control. The shared understanding would help us all. Also, each and every requirement for the bhawan based on the needs has been carefully noted, reviewed and then sent to the admin. If they’re delaying this process, what can we do
+
+#### The current, and the way ahead.
+##### ~May 2023- now
+
+**We tried to assess the current overall situation of the bhawan by talking to a resident, and got the following points:**
+1. The drinking water is unpurified and gives white residue on boiling. Aso there are no provisions for hot drinking water. 
+2. They are still dependent on Azad Bhawan for outsourcing their mess food. They still face delays in food refill and arrival to their mess and the food always seems to finish up early due to the Azad mess possibly sending less quantities of food than the bare minimum required to feed all residents.
+3. The expected end date of construction told to them is about 2 months from now.
+4. Absolutely nothing is there in the name of facilities even till now, like- fruit shop, stationery, canteen, tapri etc. Packaged food is also not sold. They still have to visit nearby boys’ canteen for snacks at night, however even there girls are not allowed entry post 12 AM, adding on to their frustrations.
+5. They do not have a laundry room, they just have 2 washing machines installed in all washrooms being used by all the occupants.
+
+**What the Bhawan secy had to say about the existing problem:**                                                                                          
+ On March 15th, we had sent the final list of requirements to DOSW, which encompassed         most of the needs mentioned by residents. We are not aware of any meetings or discussion happening on the above mentioned list. We had a discussion about it in the   Bhawan only a few days ago,and came to the conclusion that till now nothing had been sent by DoSW, but we’re expecting a response from them soon.
+
+**From the DoSW:**
+On the bhawan getting ready for optimal living conditions, they said the initial moving in date for himalaya bhawan was supposed to be 15th june, and they expect the bhawan to become fully functioning by **June 30th.**
+
+Regarding the list of requirements that you mentioned, we have taken note of it and will be soon acting on it. We’ll probably be done by 30 june and we will see to it that the mess also starts then. We have already initiated the purchasing process of utensils.
+