TSA: So, our first question is, what is the purpose behind you contesting for the position of Vice President of Gymkhana? Elaborate on the experiences which led you to contest for it.
Divyansh Singh Rana: In answering the first question, the major thing that motivated me to contest for the post is the diverse community of the students. Their hard work with their passion for achieving their dreams and aspirations. This is the major part that motivated me. And the capabilities that I have gained is by the experience of me being the co-organising Team Head of Springfest and along with that the Governor of Technology Comedy Club. And I have spent the last three years in these two organisations and have multiple experiences with interacting with the administration and how to deal with students of our institute,dealing with the industry professionals, etc. So, these are the capabilities I think that would be helpful for me if I get elected as Vice President of Gymkhana.
TSA: So, are there any particular instances that inculcated this positive sense of responsibility inside you?
Divyansh Singh Rana: There is no particular incident but as soon as I was enrolled in the institute, as I mentioned I was astonished to see how the students of the institute were working in multiple domains, be it academics along with their extracurricular and the interns part also. So, seeing the multifaceted individuals and being that part of the organisation where I had a responsibility in my hand to fulfill and because being in an organisation you only get a position of responsibility and it is a complete act of selflessness by a student. So, that complete act of selflessness and the satisfaction you get after achieving a work for the student fraternity and the impact that you create is the part that motivated me.
TSA: So, you must have gone through the proposals of other candidates. Looking at their candidature, what do you think sets you apart from them?
Divyansh Singh Rana: First of all, the proposal does not sets apart the candidates who are contesting for the post. Both the other candidates have worked equally for their candidature and have heard all the problems that the students are having. They might have interpreted the problems differently, regarding the impact scale and I have given different proposals according to the impact scale of those problems. The major things that I believe sets me apart, not in the sense of being the best candidate or not, it is upon the general body to decide after my soapbox, but I have experience of being in an organisation which deals completely with different aspects of student life and a complete different working while managing the students also the different industry professionals that come along with artists etc. My experience to perform on the stage and the artistic experience that I have got by being in the Technology Comedy Club are the two things that I believe are different and set me apart from other candidates.
TSA: So, could you brief us on your proposals, brief not elaborate. Tell us about their relevance to the student body.
Divyansh Singh Rana: Each and every proposal that I have created is completely relevant to the student body. The five proposals that I have created are as follows: the first one is the increase in deferred placement policy and the quick redressal of the queries that arises during the CDC processes. The explanation about that is there is a deferred placement policy available under the CDC rules that if a person wishes to do the startup he can take a gap of three years and apply again to the placements so that there is no immediate stress on the student to decide his career at the time of the placements. The expansion in this policy is regarding the examination that a student can give be it the international competitive examinations or the national level competitive examinations including the part that a student has to try a non-conventional path of career be it film making, photography etc.
Second is the solving of the queries during the processes of Career Development Centre. The placement committee member is the only source of contact for the student who is sitting in the process and calls every time the placement committee member whereas there are multiple responsibilities on the head of the placement committee member at that particular time. To solve this particular query we have proposed to create a platform in collaboration with ApnaINSTI so that there should be an immediate redressal on the chat whereas there would be broadcasting facilities available. You can see the detailed doc for the overall experience.
The second proposal would be on the empowerment of postgraduate students and the research scholar students. The postgraduate students when they came to the institute had very less time before registering their subjects and getting connected with their seniors. So in their first semester they have to choose their academics that they have to study and it causes a big problem and a big issue for the student who is recently enrolled in a new environment of the institute. So I have proposed to create a centralised platform that would have the names of the seniors of their department and the details about the subject of their department and what they can do along with the academic repository that can help them regarding their research works etc. And after that the research scholars have a major issue with the Central Research Facility building that they have to book these certain slots in that building and as their machinery is very much busy with multiple research scholars there is no transparency of the slots available. And the process is very hectic. One has to do the ERP approval then he has to take the physical copy and again get it signed by the head of department guides etc. I propose a platform that would ease down this process.
Third proposal is regarding the safety and inclusivity of the women along with other gender minorities that are present on the campus. There is no definite policy for the internal committee that is working right now and the rules have not been documented properly. I propose to document them first. And after that the redressal mechanism for be it sexual harassment or violent acts etc. for the women as well as minority communities are not working at that level specifically for the community of LGBTQAI+, where the proper policy would be made and redressal form and different mechanism would be created in collaboration with the representative of that community along with General Secretary Students Welfare. Also, adding to that one more part. The counsellors that are available in the counseling centre are not yet trained to deal with the victims of sexual harassment or sexually abused people and I propose to train them regarding this part as soon as possible so that they can connect well with the victim.
My fourth proposal would be on research expedition. The students of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur have the potential capabilities to do research. And, this is the thing that will ultimately take the name of the institute above in the ranking. So, I believe there are multiple research scholar students even amongst the undergraduate and the postgraduates, who are doing research in multiple domains. There should be a platform or a three day event organisation whether be it a three minute pitch product where a student can pitch what he has done as research and what is the innovative thing that he has done. Phase two of it would be where a particular student would be in contact with multiple alumni who are in the organisation such as DRDO, RCO, BIA, AAM, ISRO, BAR etc where we can get the researchers and our alumni here to tell and guide the students if they wish to go into the research part or not. The third one would be the latest departmental research that the students have done. The departmental research that any of the departments do or find the patents are listed on the website and not in the highlight of the students that much. In this research expedition there would be complete you might say presentation of the new patents or new research that has been done. So that would increase the overall inclination of the students towards the research criteria.
The fiifth one would be the entrepreneurial endeavours in the summers. According to the CDC rule each and every student has to currently do a specific internship or a research internship during their summers. Be it a dual-degree or a four-year student. And there is no scope of any student to try and do certain things on a startup or any of his idea. So I propose to create this policy also where a student can take a startup also under the mandatory internship part. And it would be judged by the professors of the Rajendra Krishna School of Engineering also.
TSA: We noticed that you had mentioned in your proposal Roopsa Sen as the ex-governor of Ambar. She is still the governor. So why are we using the term ex-governor here. When she is clearly the current governor. The reason we have mentioned it here is because the academic semester is ending and the new governors will be soon appointed. We totally agree upon that part but since you are filing a candidature in the current academic session and she is the governor in the current academic session we feel there is no need to put her as the ex-governor.
Divyansh Singh Rana: I got your point but I have stated my view why I have mentioned this particular part as the ex-governor. Because the new academic session has started and their nomination process is currently undergoing. They would be nominating the new governors soon.
TSA: Are you sure about the feasibility of all your proposals in the given time tenure of your VP candidature?
Divyansh Singh Rana: I would like to correct you here. All the proposals are never made with them being completed in a one-year time frame. There are multiple meetings, multiple stakeholders where a student has to be in touch with and other student representatives also to implement those proposals. Though all my proposals that I have stated would be initiated and most probably would be progressed up to 80% and even some of the proposals would be done completely before my tenure ends as the Vice President of Technology Student Gymkhana. And the other proposals might not be completely completed in my tenure, would have been initiated so that in the upcoming tenure they would be working completely from the next academic sessions for the upcoming Vice President etc.
TSA: So, there are many issues on campus and you have picked particularly five of them, so are there any other issues that you would like to cater to once you become the Vice President?
Divyansh Singh Rana: There are multiple issues that the students are facing right now and the basis of my proposal was the impact that it would create on the students. Whether there are other problems that the student fraternity is facing right now like the Wi-Fi issues you can say, the recent connectivity issues, or the recent security breach of the Enterprise Resource Planning, one of the problems that I feel is about the unregulated prices of the totos that are working in the institute. There are certain issues and there are more of them too but I would like to work on those apart from my proposals also if I get elected as the Vice President.
TSA: So, we are presuming that you may have interacted with Brahmjot Singh and Samarth Singh regarding your proposals. So, do you think they have left any unfinished work that you would like to continue to work on?
Divyansh Singh Rana: As I have mentioned in my earlier answer, there is no unfinished work on the proposal part. Each and every proposal has started its initiation in the tenure of the Vice President and it might take some time. In my discussion with Mr. Brahmjot Singh and Mr. Samarth Singh, their proposals have been initiated and the recent implementation will be done on the specific part. If you go through the proposals of Mr. Samarth Singh, there is a part of changing the bus route and timings and also starting some new vehicles. And apart from that, I would like to work on the part of the gatekeeper session for the counselling centre. Though it has been started, it is not working at a full strength for the students right now and the student representatives are not getting completely involved in that part. So, I would like to enhance these two things.
TSA: Okay. So, you have mentioned that you will conduct a six-day certificate course from the reformatory counselling practice. We recently found that it is a paid course costing around 15,000 for this course. So, our question is how will we be able to get an idea whether this course succeeded in its purpose or not? Like who will be the one to keep the check that after the counsellors have gone through this course, did this course add any value because you are spending money on this course? So, how are you going to quantify the output? Who will quantify the output? Who is going to keep a check on whether the education provided to them is worth it?
Divyansh Singh Rana: First of all, the certificate that would be issued would be the proof itself that a person has qualified the examination. After that, the General Secretary of Student Welfare along with the Vice President are part of the counselling centre management committee. From the last academic session, there has been an increase in the involvement of the General Secretary of Student Welfare and Vice President with the new things that are coming in the counselling centre etc. So, I personally as the vice president along with the institute women representative as well as the president of the women’s student council would be ensuring that this particular thing has progressed or not, I have also mentioned about the student representation specifically from the community of LGBTQIA+. And along with him, her or they would be ensuring that whether this particular approach or the learning has been imparted in the counselling centre.
TSA: How do you plan on managing your extracurricular activities along with academics and other commitments?
Divyansh Singh Rana: So, regarding the management of academics along with my extracurricular activities, I have gained experience over the past three years with being in multiple organisations be it Spring Fest and the governor of Technology Comedy Club. And I would surely say that the work that has been done and being done in Spring Fest and Technology Comedy Club is not that easy and it take a good amount of time management skill as well as interest towards academic pursuit and I have been through this phase so I believe that I have catered this problem before and seeing the maturity of the students growing each and every year and it would be my fourth year during my upcoming tenure. I am quite confident that I would be able to manage my academics along with the responsibilities.
TSA: This year numerous students have been faced with disciplinary actions due to the possession of intoxicants. What are your opinions on this?
Divyansh Singh Rana: The rules regarding the intoxications in the campus are strictly written down and I believe that if there are certain instances that are taking place, it is very sad on the student body part, but we can control these instances by making the students aware about the rules and regulations and what the medical effects on the body are, be it physical or mental that are caused due to certain intoxicatnts. With proper awareness about all these things, we can reduce all these intoxicants from the campus.
TSA: I see, so every year we see that every VP has a proposal regarding the Post Graduate students and Research Scholar. How do you think yours is different from theirs because it all seems very generic?
Divyansh Singh Rana: I would request you to go through my proposal once regarding the postgraduate students and Research Scholar. When I was in a meeting with the postgraduate and Research Scholars, the first problem that they have mentioned was regarding their academic pursuits and the central research facility. These are the two things that I have involved in my proposals as this was the major problem that they have stated and that would benefit the overall committee. The past experiences that you are talking about are based on the inclusivity of the research scholars and Postgraduate students and this has been increasing from the past academic semester already. To go to this root cause, I have mentioned in my proposal to revamp the induction programme that is done for the Research Scholars and Postgraduate students. So these three are the differences you might see in my proposals.
TSA: Many people say that this years’ placements have not been that good. What are your views on that and how do you see next year’s placement scenario?
Divyansh Singh Rana: There are multiple factors that have affected the placements this year. Be it the remote location of IIT Kharagpur, or the current recession in the market, I believe in the ability of the student representatives or the placement committee members who are sitting in the Career Development Centre to work to the best of their abilities, to increase the placement opportunities for each and every student. In the current times, there has been a certain amount of dip but this dip has been seen in all the institutes of India, and seeing the offers, we have not dipped that much, and for the upcoming year, I believe learning from the current experiences and enhancing the issues that we have faced this year, the numbers would greatly increase.
TSA: As we all know there is an accommodation problem in IIT KGP. Many people are pushed into very small rooms. So how do you see this problem resolving next year?
Divyansh Singh Rana: I guess you might be aware of the two new halls that are being constructed and have been built completely.. The recent accommodation problems that you are mentioning, seem to be happening because of the increase in intake of the students, and due to the covid times, there was not complete construction of these halls beforehand only. But as these new halls are constructed and the proper allotment of the students is done by the hall management centre, this issue will be soon resolved.
TSA: So once these two halls are constructed, do you expect the accommodation issue to get completely resolved?
Divyansh Singh Rana: The halls are constructed completely and there are currently more than 450 students staying in this particular hall of residence (Savitri Bai Phule Hall of Residence) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of Residence is almost done with just a few checks remaining to be done. From the next academic semester, the students would be allocated those halls. As soon as we dilute the number of students who are currently in the halls of residences which are older, obviously, the situation of the current accommodation would be better than what we see right now. And, obviously, in the upcoming few years as the intake would be increasing every year, we have to do more construction for the accommodation. So in the upcoming years, the problem will be solved slowly and easily
TSA: What have been the updates on the CV Building portal that Samarth in his tenure has carried on and what is your view on this? How is your proposal different?
Divyansh Singh Rana: The CV Building Portal proposal of Mr. Samarth Singh was not exactly about CV building it was about the notification of the companies to the students and my change in that part is that we won’t be using mass mailing software but we would be taking an API from ERP and we would be collaborating with ApnaInsti app to show the companies notification to the students in which he/she has applied. The company’s name won’t be out considering the secrecy of the company and confidentiality with other IITs that we have to maintain. The candidate can view the companies he shortlisted for interview and related details on the portal.
TSA: What is the current status of gatekeeper training as proposed by the current Vice President, which has not been implemented very successfully, or at least the impact hasn’t been that much prevalent? How does your proposal make the scenario any better?
Divyansh Singh Rana: As I have mentioned in the last part, it has been mandatory from the past academic session and every new experience takes time. For the gatekeeper session, we would involve more student representatives and it will not be just a two-hour session instead it would include more fun activities so that the person can judge the adverse effects.
TSA: Coming back to your proposal the ApnaInsti app is not compatible with IOS and operating systems and it also gives problems in Android too. So what are your views on this?
Divyansh Singh Rana: So I have talked with the previous heads and also the current heads of the developer society and they are already developing the app for the respective OS. It will be released soon. Regarding the feasibility of the app in Android, the app will get smoother by the time the internship process starts if I get elected as the VP and I will coordinate with the technology coordinators of the Gymkhana
TSA: There have been rumours that privacy is something that is put at stake when it comes to the Counselling Centre. There have been multiple cases when the identity of the students had been revealed to their parents and displayed in their ERP. So what are your views on this? Do you wish to change the system at all?
Divyansh Singh Rana: The counsellors that are sitting currently in the Counselling Centre have much more experience than us in solving an issue. As per their escalation chart and as per their discretion, if they are seeing a particular situation that cannot be solved, by the current facilities or with the involvement of student representatives, or even the administration, then as per their discretion they have conveyed it to the parents. But, if there has been a case in which the problem would have been solved at the institute level, with the involvement of student representatives and other doctors, psychiatrists, etc, and yet they have mentioned this particular part to the parents then I would be in touch with those stakeholders and would tell them not to do such a thing, considering the evaluation escalation of the problem, we should first involve the student representatives, their friends and the administration of the institute so that we can solve this particular part in the institute level and the student does not feel uncomfortable sharing the problem with the parents.
TSA: What would be your parting words to conclude the interview? Any message for the KGP janta?
Divyansh Singh Rana: If this article is posted before my soapbox, then I would like to invite each and everyone to my soapbox where I will deliver my statement of purpose that will be happening on the 11th of April, and moreover the thing that sets the community of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur apart from other colleges is the bonding and the shared culture along with the common interests that the students have. So I would request the upcoming batches as well as the current batches in the institute to maintain that community and the strong bonding so that we can strive through all the difficulties and the upcoming experiences altogether.